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Taiwanese Parliament votes Against Microsoft

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the most-likely-not-binding dept.

linumax writes "Taiwan's parliament has voted to end its dependence on Microsoft software, demanding that the government reduce purchases from the software giant by 25 percent this year. The resolution, passed on Friday, is an attempt by the island's law-making body to end the near monopoly Microsoft has with local government offices, a legislative aide said. Local newspaper Commercial Times said however that the resolution may not be binding because it runs against fair trade regulations in Taiwan. Officials at Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission declined to comment."

5 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. In related news by A+beautiful+mind · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft offers China software for their missile guiding systems and naval fleet.

    --
    It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
    Be yourself no matter what they say
  2. Expect a flying visit from Ballmer by 99luftballon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If past form is anything to go by Ballmer or another senior executive will be booking their flights to head down and do a deal. Expect a large discount to be forthcoming that would allow the government to continue with its purchasing and still meet the 25 per cent target. It's happened before but the question is how long Microsoft can continue along that route. Discounting is all very well but once more governments get in on the game it's going to start costing. Why is it one supposes that Microsoft seems to move faster when a government threatens to stop sales than when they threaten it with an enquiry? This tells you a lot about the effectiveness of competition regulations in a WTO world.

  3. OSS is gaining momentum by l0ungeb0y · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Way to go Taiwan! I expect many more Countries to move their Government IT infrastructures over to OSS in the year ahead.

    I'm sure I am not the only one snickering at the irony at the comment about potential Fair Trade violation -- against MS, which is an Internationally convicted Monopolist.

    Which begs the question, are Taiwanese Lawmakers so stupid to make laws that prevent their Governemnt from having a real choice for purchases, or are MS's lobbyists also very active over at the WTO?

  4. Two Part Strategy For Dealing With The MS Problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This sounds like the common strategy to deal with the Microsoft problem:

    1) Draw a box around all existing Microsoft software infesting the government or company in question. Forbid the growth of any Microsoft software outside this box.

    2) Once the Microsoft infestation has been contained and growth halted, slowly start purging the existing Microsoft software and formats with clean and open solutions like OpenOffice, OpenDocument, Apache, Linux, BSD, XML, etc...

  5. Somewhere in an office in Redmond... by 16K+Ram+Pack · · Score: 5, Funny

    A chair with the words "Made in Taiwan" is being thrown.