March 26th, 2001 - The German defense department was quick to deny a report by Der Spiegel claiming that two German governmental agencies had banned software produceed by the United States, including Microsoft operating systems. In response to the report, which said that the Bundeswehr (German Federal Armed Forces) and foreign office had banned US software, the German government has stated that no such ban is in place.
The government emphasized that it intends to continue to use US made software. A spokesperson for the German Defense Ministry was quoted as saying, "I can confirm that the Defense Ministry signed a general licensing contract with Microsoft half a year ago saying we will use software products of Microsoft, and we intend to continue to use such systems." The spokesperson added that additional security measures would be taken to secure information, including the use of security software by other companies.
It is unclear whether the report of the ban was in fact unfounded, or if the Defense Ministry has done some speedy backpedalling to preserve good relations with the US.
