Bectas klage på Microsoft følges opp avEU-kommisjonen

Becta meldte nylig følgende:

In October 2007 Becta complained to the UK competition regulator – the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) - alleging:

• anti-competitive licensing practices by Microsoft in the schools software marketplace 
• the existence of impediments to effective interoperability in relation to Microsoft's Office 2007 product.

In January 2008 the European Commission announced that it was initiating a formal investigation in relation to Microsoft's approach to interoperability across a number of areas, including: 

" .. whether Microsoft's new file format Office Open XML, as implemented in MS Office, is sufficiently interoperable with competitors' products."

Following discussions with the OFT, Becta has now referred its interoperability complaint and related evidence to the European Commission in support of the Commission's wider investigation. At a recent meeting with the Commission Becta set out its key areas of concern and their impact on the UK education system.

Becta believes that impediments to interoperability limit choice. In the context of the education system this can result in higher prices and a range of other unsatisfactory effects which have a negative impact on wider policy initiatives, including improving educational outcomes, facilitating home school links and addressing the digital divide.

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