UsDepartmentOfTheInterior
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Google drops cloud computing lawsuit against US Department of the Interior
Last year, Google filed a lawsuit against the US Department of the Interior, on allegations that the government unfairly awarded a $59 million cloud computing contract to Microsoft without conducting a sufficiently competitive auction. Big G won an injunction against the department in January, effectively putting the contract on hold, and it looked as if the company would prevail, with Judge Susan Braden recently declaring that there was a "justifiable basis" for dispute. Last week, however, Google decided to drop the suit altogether, after filing a motion in the US Court of Federal Claims. "Based on the defendant's agreement to update its market research and then conduct a procurement in a manner that will not preclude plaintiffs from fairly competing, plaintiffs respectfully move for dismissal of this action without prejudice," the company's attorney wrote in the motion, filed on Thursday. Federal lawyers, however, responded by claiming that the two sides have not reached an agreement, while confirming that it had no problem with Google's decision to cease litigation. It remains to be seen whether the two sides have truly reached an agreement, or whether the litigation may wear on, but we'll keep you abreast of any future developments.
