Microsoft.gov
July 2001
Concern about access as Microsoft develops
new Government Gateway
Plans by the British government to use new technologies
to speed up its interaction with citizens have caused concern due
to the special role played by Microsoft. The new Government Gateway
project has been designed to enable citizens to perform simple tasks
such as completing tax returns or paying VAT bills more easily.
Originally, the service was to be supplied by Compaq but, after
talks broke down in October, Microsoft stepped in to develop the
site using its .NET technology.
Potential problems were noted by users shortly
after the service went online, however. Those employing software
other than Microsoft's operating system Windows and its browser
Internet Explorer 5.1 may not be able to take full advantage of
the site, despite the fact that government departments insisted
upon open systems in the early 1990s. By relying on a single supplier,
commentators argue, government relations could be exploited by Microsoft.
Microsoft, in its turn, has denied that it has created a 'Microsoft-only
site' and is obviously taking pride in its special relationship
with the British government.
Microsoft has had another lucky escape as the breakup
order issued in February as part of the Department of Justice's
antitrust investigations has recently been reversed by the federal
appeals court. The US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued
a unanimous verdict that Microsoft was not guilty of trying to maintain
a monopoly with its IE software and condemned District Judge Thomas
Penfield Jackson's 'rampant disregard for the judiciary's ethical
obligations'.
Nonetheless, while the appeals court maintained
that aggressively marketing Internet Explorer did not violate the
Sherman Act, the judges did argue that Microsoft's Windows-only
agreements with PC manufacturers did mean that the company behaved
anti-competitively and that it should be held liable for its actions.
|
As Microsoft has avoided the immediate,
and potentially disastrous, consequence of being broken up
into operating system and applications companies, federal
investigation into Microsoft (which dates back to a Federal
Trade Commission probe into possible collusion between Microsoft
and IBM in 1990) looks set to continue.
|
 Previous
stories
Microsoft in the .NET
IE6 Beta Preview
Relevant sites
Government Gateway
US Court of Appeal
|
|
