Is a comment from a reader on a WSJ article about the US Justice Department suing Oracle for allegedly not honoring what is called the “most-favored nation” clause in most government contracts.
The commenter feels the US General Services Administration (GSA) should have been monitoring the market by making its own checks on average discounts and other terms. Such “in background” benchmarking is pretty common in the private sector – not sure if there are constraints on government agencies doing it.
One thing that baffles me – the Feds and various US States collected a treasure trove of pricing intelligence during the US versus Oracle antitrust suit in 2004. I remember there were detailed price sheets on various accounts on the web site – which have since been redacted from public view.
I wonder if the GSA reviewed that publicly shared pricing and discounts and if so why it has taken the Feds 6 years to move.
