= Illegal procurement favouring Microsoft killed in Portuguese court =
[Read online: http://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130429-01.en.html]
On April 27, the administrative court of Almada, Portugal, declared a 550, 000 Euro contract between Microsoft and the municipality of Almada to be illegal. The technical specifications of the competition launched by the municipality prevented any company other than Microsoft and their partners to submit a proposal.
This ruling is especially significant as it clarifies that a widely used procurement procedure is illegal. The procedure specified the name of Microsoft products instead of their general functional and technical requirements.
Unfair tendering practices in Portugal have been repeatedly denounced by FSFE's Associate Organisation ANSOL [1] and the Portuguese association ESOP [2], who brought the case to court. They violate fundamental rules of fair competition and systematically exclude companies that provide services based on Free Software.
FSFE welcome the court's decision, and calls on other European national courts to continue to systematically annul similarly discriminatory contracts.
[1] https://ansol.org/ [2] http://www.esop.pt/
== More information ==
- The court's decision
https://fsfe.org/documents/court-act-portugal.pdf
- ESOP's press release about the ruling
http://www.esop.pt/court-annuls-public-tender-for-microsoft- software-in-the-municipality-of-almada/
- Discriminatory practices continue to plague IT public procurement across Europe (Open Forum Europe)
http://www.openforumeurope.org/openprocurement
- FSFE's Contribution to the European Commission consultation on the modernisation of European Union public procurement policy
https://fsfe.org/activities/policy/eu/20110418.ProcurementConsultation.FSFE....
- FSFE's work to improve procurement in Finland
http://fsfe.org/news/2012/news-20120619-01.en.html
== About the Free Software Foundation Europe ==
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and involved in many global activities. Access to software determines participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study, modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSFE.