Schools agency takes Microsoft to OFT

The government agency responsible for IT in education, has made a formal complaint to the Office of Fair Trading alleging anti-competitive practices by Microsoft.

Becta has advised schools that until the OFT has responded, they should not sign up to Microsoft's subscription licenses, which require the payment of annual fees rather than granting a perpetual right to use software.

And it says schools should deploy Office 2007 only when its interoperability with "alternative products" is satisfactory. "That would necessarily imply effective support by Microsoft of the internationally approved ODF file format, " Becta said in a statement.

IBM and Sun are currently heavily promoting free versions of the OpenOffice.org suite, which use ODF; Microsoft Office 2007's new Open XML formats have yet to be accepted as a global ISO standard.

Microsoft, like other software vendors, is trying to establish continuing revenues by selling software as a service on subscription rather than a product.

The OFT complaint follows a Becta report on Microsoft's licensing arrangements highlighting "a number of fundamental concerns impacting on choice, competition in the marketplace and value for money for schools."

A second report on Vista and Office 2007 covered concerns about interoperability with non-Microsoft products.

The Becta statement said cost-effective and convenient IT provision in schools required "the avoidance of impediments to effective competition and choice."

Becta had tried to address the issues with Microsoft. "Some progress has been made, though a number of fundamental issues remain unresolved. These centre around the limitations Microsoft places on schools using its subscription licensing arrangements and the potential interoperability difficulties for schools, pupils and parents who wish to use alternatives to Microsoft's Office suite, including 'free to use' alternatives. "

Becta advises schools to deploy Office 2007 "only when its interoperability with alternative products is satisfactory. That would necessarily imply effective support by Microsoft of the internationally approved ODF file format. "