Google sues US government for only considering Microsoft

[Archean]

Could companies within the private sectors sue potential partners for not properly considering their products and services, or would such a precedent only apply to the public sectors?

How do you argue that 'your product is not properly considered' in court? Business deals are not always in a way where best possible solution is bought by the buyer, rather it is the case of what suites them best and is cost effective. So google should suck it up and move on, haven't they learned yet from the negative behavior in the last couple year has only resulted in more and more regulating authorities taking notice of their practices.

 

[hitech0101]

The government knows what's best to keep everything secure.Why google wants a share in everything.go ahead sue the government let's see what happens.

 

[uttaradhaka]

It'll be funny if the US government loses and is asked to relinquish the rights to the country!! Sewing the government, oh the audacity!

 

[fritz123]

google's gonna take over the govenment oh noes. i dont know if its a good thing that google want in on everything nowadays. can they really push the government to use google? i think google is going too far in suing something with such authority. what you guys think?

 

[kaonis92]

Microsoft is out there for much longer but Google has better offerings in that area google might be right.

 

[Archean]

Microsoft is out there for much longer but Google has better offerings in that area google might be right.

Just because you say so? I am unsure how that help google's case any way? Haven't you got the slightest idea that Government is the biggest corporation in any country; and corporations make decisions which make 'reasonable' business sense and as I said earlier are 'cost effective'; subsequently this also means the systems must be easy to fit into existing infrastructure. So in such a situation it isn't bad at all to ignore alternatives and stick with what is working for you. That is why I don't think its about google or for MS for that matter.

 

[theruck]

how can somebody sue somebody for his own will? if i want a good car i will pickup what i like, not doing a competition for specifications like color, topspeed etc. if i like MS windows i will buy it and install. why does it have to be different on government level? how can the court possibly end?

 

[Puiu]

they only go for microsoft because they don't know anything else and are afraid of learning something new.

 

[dawgtothebone]

I sense..Google is now one step closer with their diabolical plans...in taking over the world. mwahahahah. .

This shall be the lawsuit of the century if the U.S government losses.

 

[captaincranky]

It seems the civil rights act now applies to monopolies.

 

[Guest]

Just to clear something up that some people seem to be confused about...

Governments and public agencies are required to consider different options and pick the ones that are the cheapest while meeting the requirements.
Private companies/people are not.

The reason for this is that the government doesn't spend the government's money - they spend YOUR money (assuming you pay taxes). While a private company/person is generally spending their own money.

For example, a company decides to get all of their employees $4,000 Alienware laptops to do their documents and spreadsheets, just because that was the only company they considered, when a $400 computer from another company would easily meet the requirements.

If it's a private company, who cares (aside from the people who own stock in said company).
But if it's the government (spending your tax money), then there's a problem.


I don't really care one way or the other about the actual topic, just wanted to clear that little bit up for people.

Rest easy, Google won't sue you for not considering using Gmail.


...yet. ;P

 

[theruck]

the idea is clear but the result of spent money would be the same or even worse. also if windows usage is quite a general knowledge of all the goverment employees i would not go for goodle software and invest into trainings... its not that easy and if somebody has given me a vote to be in government there i go. i pickup on my best will. i know fairy tales

 

[jazboy]

this will be good thing if US start using Google's service. They can save lot of money which can put on some development work.

 

[coolhandz84]

The military has been using windows since the beginning, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. All of their IT's are windows trained, so why would they spend millions on training for whole new system. Plus the military doesn't need all of the extra "bells and whistles", people complain enough about where taxpayer money is going, especially when government employees set up their iGoogle accounts and other features.

 

[stwongbad85]

Prosercunus said:
What? You can sue over something as stupid? That is interesting.

no one thought that it was stupid when the US gov. gave out "no bid contracts" during the most recent Iraq War.
.
This is anti-competitive behavior that Microsoft and the US gov have been guilty of in their own rights for decades.
.
And the bottom line is that when it comes to cyber security in any sector of our Government, their should be no compromises just because a piece of technology has to fit into some b.s. microsoft product suite.
.
seriously cyber-national security is no joke.

 

[Zilpha]

Governments and public agencies are required to consider different options and pick the ones that are the cheapest while meeting the requirements.
Private companies/people are not.

The reason for this is that the government doesn't spend the government's money - they spend YOUR money (assuming you pay taxes). While a private company/person is generally spending their own money.

Correct, but the overall cost of switching an entire infrastructure to a Google-provided solution has to be factored into things, and that's where I think Google is stepping over the line in claiming they even have a comparable solution. Frankly, I am getting a little tired of seeing their name all over everything. They are getting too big, too fast, and involving themselves in too much. I don't trust them to keep my personal information secure, much less the government of the United States.

Besides that, what does Google really hope to accomplish by suing the US government? Even if they win and the Gov't has to "consider" them, it's unlikely they are going to get in the door after this nonsense. The US government might be a bit of a joke at the moment, but I highly doubt that they are going to cave in to Google's bullying.

 

[AnonymousSurfer]

Haha I didn't know you can sue the government, the people that run the courts...

 

[xcelofjkl]

Lol @ government. Bunch of old geysers knowing nothing about everyday-computing

 

[Guest]

YET they offer Google Apps as the alternative? Google Apps is so frustrating to use at times.