Google is taking on the
States
1984-esque corporate takeover–it’s actually a dispute over an e-mail contract. The
company feels that it was unfairly excluded from a potential deal with the US
Department of the Interior. Google is accusing the government’s decision of adopting
Microsoft’s mail client over Google Apps, of being “unduly
restrictive of competition.”
According to Google, the department failed to conduct a
proper investigation into offerings in the space. The e-mail contract covers 88,000
users and is estimated to be worth $59 million over the course of five years.
Google’s suit against the DOI comes in the face of increased
scrunity and a number of probes into the company’s privacy policies. But the
decision may not be a shot at the government, so much as part of the on-going
battle between Google and Microsoft.
“Google rarely goes on the offensive in court,” Eric
Goldman, a law professor told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s suing the
Department of the Interior as a proxy in its battle against Microsoft.”
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