Becta
, the government's advisory body for IT in schools, has referred
its interoperability complaint about Microsoft software to the
European Commission.
Becta says it welcomes the European Commission's current
anti-trust investigation of Microsoft concerning
interoperability.
It has now referred its interoperability complaint and
supporting evidence to the commission.
In October 2007, Becta complained to UK competition regulator
the Office of Fair Trading
(OFT), alleging anti-competitive licensing practices by
Microsoft in the schools software marketplace.
It also complained about "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
the Office suite and the introduction of a new document format -
Office Open
XML - which is part of that suite.
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.
Stephen Lucey, Becta's executive director of strategic
technologies, said, "It is not just the interests of competitors
and the wider marketplace that are damaged when barriers to
effective interoperability are created. Such barriers can also
damage the interests of education and training organisations,
learners, teachers and parents."