How Microsoft Fought True Open Standards I

I'm not a UK citizen, but doesn't this Cabinet Office make its own decisions?<p>The article focused so much on what Microsoft is lobbying for and Microsoft's use of rhetoric for its own ends, but seemed to place little blame on the Cabinet Office itself.<p>What does the author expect Microsoft to argue for besides use of its own products and standards?<p>Really, it would be far more valuable to call out the Cabinet Office's decision makers and the process they use for coming to these kinds of decisions.

I didn't see the link to the documents quoted in the article, so here is the request and the documents provided in response.<p><a href="http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/open_standards_when_specifying_i#incoming-269756" rel="nofollow">http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/open_standards_when_sp...</a>

Doesn't ICT (information and communication technology) include hardware as well as software? While I understand the attraction open source holds, the law was clearly written not to require its use. Microsoft is not acting nefariously. They are simply commenting on government rules in a similar way to other interest groups.