Google cries foul over government department’s specifications

Internet search giant Google has launched legal proceedings against the US Department of Interior alleging the federal agency had favoured rival Microsoft while considering bids for e-mail and collaboration software for its 88,000 employees.

In its suit filed in the US Court of Federal Claims, Google has alleged that the US agency's request that called for inclusion of the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite was meant to exclude Google's online services and Google Apps, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Google contends in its complaint that the Interior Department's decision to only consider Microsoft's standard was "unduly restrictive of competition."

The Interior Department, which includes the National Park Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs, is in the process of procuring a web-based email and collaboration platform that would replace 13 systems currently in use by its 88,000 staffers.
The contract is valued at $59 million over five years.

"A fair and open process could save US taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and result in better services," the Journal quoted a Google spokesman as saying.

According to the report Interior officials have told Google they were committed to an open competition for the contract even though the department had "standardised" on Microsoft technology.