Federal lawsuits take on the humble hyperlink

Via ARS Technica

By Nate Anderson | Published: September 18, 2008 – 05:34AM CT

R.E.M. once sang about “the end of the world as we know it,” but Michael Stipe & Co. never suspected that the brat-loving, cheese-eating, grain-growing Midwest might be the source of the world-ending scourge. But a pair of recent federal court cases coming from Wisconsin and Illinois have threatened to turn the most primitive functionality of the web—the hyperlink—into an “ask permission before linking” system.

Perhaps the full lyric should run, “It’s the end of the web as we know it, and I feel fine,” except that it’s hard to feel to great about the end of the web.

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Open source group sues Quebec over no-bid Microsoft contracts

By Ryan Paul | Published: August 29, 2008 – 06:15AM CT _ Via ARS Technica

A nonprofit open source advocacy group in Quebec is taking the provincial government to court over its software procurement policies. The group, which is called FACIL, contends that the government has failed to comply with contract regulations by consistently adopting foreign proprietary software without first evaluating open source alternatives.

In a complaint filed with Quebec Superior Court, FACIL points out that the government awarded Microsoft CAN$10 million across seven different contracts, but never invited other vendors to propose bids. This behavior could fall afoul of regulations that require government agencies to solicit bids for contracts exceeding CAN$25,000. FACIL also cites a procurement guidelines document issued by the government of Quebec last year which instructs officials to define their operational needs during the procurement process in a way that is broadly inclusive and nonprejudicial towards open source solutions.

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