Government Offices Not Obliged to Use Microsoft
Friday, 22 December, 2006 | 15:37 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Information and Communication Minister Sofyan Djalil explained the case of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the government and Microsoft.

The MoU about appointing Microsoft the software supplier for all computers at government offices; therefore the Business Competition Oversight Commission (KPPU) plans to investigate this because there was no tender process.

According to Sofyan, the MoU signed on November 14, 2006 was aimed at respecting intellectual property rights so that Indonesia can be delisted from the Priority Watch List—the list of countries included to be under special monitoring due to a high piracy rate.

The government, he said, must be an example to the people not to use pirated software. “The principal is, all the government computers ought to use legal software,” Sofyan told Tempo in Jakarta, yesterday (21/12).

According to Sofyan, legal software is not only made by Microsoft. There is also open source software or freeware which are available for free.

So, said Sofyan, software use will be up to each department. A Microsoft operating system is not a must. “Who decides is every institution,” said Sofyan.

The government will collect data of computers at government offices between January and February 2007. The purpose is to know the government's computer amount and the software use. “What is illegal will be legalized,” he said.

Regarding the KPPU's plan to investigate the appointing of Microsoft as the government's computer software supplier, Sofyan said the MoU will only be effective when a department or a governmental institution decides to use Microsoft's operating system.

If a government institution chooses to use an open source operating system, the MoU is not automatically valid.

“The MoU is only a matter of agreement, so there is no problem at all,” said Sofyan.


EKO NOPIANSYAH | ANTON APRIANTO