Microsoft Threatened to Close U.K. Plants, Ex-Cameron Aide Says
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Microsoft Corp. threatened to close its research facilities in Britain if the government went ahead with plans to promote open-source software, one of David Cameron’s former advisers said.
Steve Hilton, who was the prime minister’s director of strategy until 2012, told an event in London Wednesday that when the Conservative Party proposed shifting government computer systems to open standards, the software giant began intensive lobbying of members of Parliament. Open tools have few restrictions, allowing users to move away from expensive proprietary software contracts.