Senator wades into Microsoft’s French army deal

Senator Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam demands investigation

A French senator is demanding an investigation into Microsoft’s framework deal with France’s defence ministry.

Senator Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam asked parliament to create a 21-strong investigative committee to look into “the conditions in which the framework agreement between the Ministry of Defence and Microsoft was entered into and renewed, and to formulate proposals for strengthening digital sovereignty and cybersecurity in France”.

The deal was signed in 2009 for a four-year term but was slammed by free software advocates and politicians who felt it was exposing the French military to potential American spying. It also shut out potential competitors – particularly open saucy types.

France has been a participating NATO member since 2009, but had not been particularly interested in the alliance since 1966. This was partly because the French thought that the UK and the US had too much say in the alliance and no one was particularly interested in listening to what the French said.