WASHINGTON — Stymied in their bid to persuade the Justice Department to take stronger antitrust action against Microsoft Corp., consumer groups are pressing the federal government to buy more software from Microsoft's rivals.
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader raised the issue of how the federal government decides which software it purchases with the $1 billion it spends annually when he met with Douglas Melamed, principal deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department. Nader and Jamie Love, director of the Consumer Project on Technology, argued that it is as unwise for the government to rely on a single software supplier as it would be to depend on a single defense contractor.
"The current procurement standards push the government toward Microsoft products," said Love, whose Washington-based watchdog group focuses on computer policy matters.
Under a year-old procurement reform measure, federal agencies have the flexibility to purchase computer products without any longer having to go through the red tape over product specifications and price. But privately, many software developers say the measure has strengthened Microsoft's hold on the market, since many federal employees want to use the same Microsoft software products they use at home.
Microsoft's MS-DOS and Windows software operates 80% of the world's personal computers, and Microsoft Office software, a collection of word processing, spreadsheet and other programs, is now the leading bundle of business applications, selling about 1 million copies a month.
Justice officials did not indicate whether they would support Nader's suggestion, which the consumer advocate will present this month to the General Services Administration, the federal government's procurement arm. Nader could not be reached, and Melamed declined comment through a spokeswoman.
Vivek Varma, a spokesman for Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft, said the company had not heard of Nader's proposal but argued that Microsoft's success in the market stemmed from its superior product offerings.
"Government agencies need to get the best value they can for their technology [investment], and Microsoft offers great technology at attractive prices," Varma said.
Consumer groups from California and four other states are scheduled to visit Capitol Hill on Monday to lobby legislators to hold hearings on Microsoft's business practices in the wake of the software giant's recent multimillion-dollar investment in rival Apple Computer Co.
