[ Thanks to An Anonymous Reader for
this link. ]
“ESOP obviously does not oppose of a private entity
such as Vortal using Microsoft, or any other base technology of
their choice, and has no legitimacy to comment upon internal
software options. But to impose software of a specific brand onto a
third party and thus, in clear opposition to several laws, directly
hamper competition through a legally required service is indeed a
serious matter. This situation gives rise to a direct interference
in the software options of end-costumers/enterprises, options which
should be based exclusively on regular market functioning, with no
restrictions arising from the technical requirements of a public
service.“For instance, national companies opting for Linux, Solaris, BSD
or Apple-based systems cannot access the platform, and are
consequently prevented from bidding at public tenders, unless they
acquire Microsoft technology for that purpose. This situation,
harmful for both ESOP’s associate companies and their
respective customers, has no technical justification whatsoever in
light of current technologies. This is a known fact to any
competent IT/web professional; moreover, it is endorsed by the
technical opinion of several well-reputed institutions, which has
also been provided to the authorities.”