Justice Department Joins Fraud Lawsuit Against Oracle 100
suraj.sun writes with news that the US Department of Justice has joined a lawsuit alleging Oracle of overcharging the federal government for its software products. Quoting:
"In a nutshell, the lawsuit argues that Oracle's government customers — a wide array of agencies, including the State Department, the Energy Department, and the Justice Department itself — got deals 'far inferior' to those the enterprise software giant gave to its commercial clients. The allegations stem from a software deal between Oracle and the federal General Services Administration that the Justice Department says involved 'hundreds of millions of dollars in sales' and that ran from 1998 to 2006. Under the contract, Oracle was required to inform the GSA when commercial discounts improved and to offer those same discounts to government buyers. Oracle misrepresented its true commercial sales practices and thus defrauded the US, the lawsuit contends.
Re:I don't understand (Score:3, Informative)
Oracle had a contract to sell software to the government.
The contract said Oracle had to report to the government the discount prices they charged other companies.
Oracle agreed to, and signed this contract.
Oracle lied to the government when it reported these prices.
Oracle broke their contract.
Re:Way to go government! (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, if you finish reading the summary, they signed a good deal after all. The contract said that Oracle must inform them of the other deals, and Oracle lied to them. Oracle breached the contract. -That- is why they are being sued.
Re:Gov looking to save money? (Score:5, Informative)
This isn't about the government paying more than a private entity.
This is about the government having a contract with oracle guaranteeing a price match with other parties for the duration of the contract, which oracle tried to get around by using obscure pricing practices with new private entity business. Oracle agreed to match the prices, and then lied about what they were charging. That's fraud.