Thanks go to the folks over at Mock El Paso Times for pointing out the situation with yet another city lawsuit.
According to this article in El Diario two software vendors have taken the highly unusual step of suing a municipal government in federal court. The city being sued? El Paso. The department? Financial Services, the one headed by our chief financial officer.
Alleged piracy
From what I can tell from the google translation of the El Diario article the firms are claiming piracy and violation of trade secrets.
Not entered into lightly
Companies rarely sue their clients. If nothing else it can be harmful to their reputation. Suing a city is even more rare given that most cities try to deal honestly with people when they are forced to.
Federal litigation is expensive and risky. Going to the courthouse (especially where the city has the advantage of being the representative of the citizens) is a last resort. These guys must really be irritated.
Hire El Paso First
The city’s web site tells us to “Hire El Paso First”.
What have they done here? They hired a Dallas based firm to represent us. I guess the El Paso law firms know where they stand.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
El Diario frequently has the only story, or a much more detailed story than the Times, about machinations in City Hall. Worth reading El Diario just for that…
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WTF does it say?
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IT says that Weidner and MFR Solutions are suing the city for software piracy, after the city contracted in 2012 for use of the software and received some special treatment (reduced prices, etc) only to be caught copying the software rather than renewing the license. Extensive evidence is cited. The case is in the court of federal judge Cardone. If it goes to trial the date is February 27 2015.
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Does the FBI has juridisction over this matter?
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