Interesting:

Hewlett Packard, the US computer group, has agreed to pay £200 million in interim damages to BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster, following a landmark lawsuit over a failed IT contract.

Last month, the High Court ruled that EDS, a subsidiary, had fraudulently misrepresented its ability to complete an upgrade of BSkyB’s customer services systems on time.

This could have positive implications for the government. After all, they have had more than their fair share of shitty performances from IT companies. Taking this case as a precedent, the government could win back a lot of money that has been fleeced from them through various IT contracts. But will they do it?

Probably not. Partly because to do so would require backbone, and the government has less spine than a jellyfish. But mainly because there doesn’t seem to be any incentive for the government to go after the money. BSkyB are incentivised by the need to make and maintain profits for shareholders. The government doesn’t need to make a profit, and if it needs more funding, it simply asks for more money from its shareholders – in other words, the taxpayer. Actually, scratch that – it demands more money from the taxpayer.

Which is the big difference between a business and the government – the former exists to make money, the latter to spend money. And it is why I would be (pleasantly) surprised if the government actually used this case as a launching pad to extract some of the money it has sunk into the various money pits IT contracts.