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DoD Opens Dialogue With Industry on Open-Source Software

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 12.07.11

Pursuant to a December 5 notice, DoD is hosting a public meeting on January 12, 2012, to obtain input from industry on the use of open-source software in its contracts.  DoD seeks to initiate dialogue in three main areas: (1) risks of copyright infringement liability for the Government and contractors who use or deliver open-source software and when that software includes proprietary or copyrighted material, (2) performance and warranty deficiencies faced by contractors when delivered open-source software does not meet contract requirements, and (3) whether the DFARS should be revised to delineate the Government’s rights when a contractor acquires open-source software for the Government.

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Client Alert | 4 min read | 10.30.26

Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right: GAO Sustains Protest Where Agency Tried to Fix PIA Violation with a Second PIA Violation

Recent sustain decisions by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in Fluor Federal Solutions, LLC and Reliance Test & Technology send a clear message: when an agency tries to fix a Procurement Integrity Act (PIA) violation by committing a second one, the cure can be just as fatal as the disease. The cases involved the U.S. Air Force’s $1.8 billion procurement for O&M services at Elgin Air Force Base. During discussions, the Air Force inadvertently released a pricing overview slide with all offerors’ bottom-line evaluated costs to Reliance Test & Technology, which immediately notified the agency of the error. In response, the Air Force decided to level the playing field by providing the same information to all the other offerors in the procurement, stating, “[o]fferors may consider this disclosure in their [final proposal revision].”...