Microsoft Has More Regulatory Sludge to Deal With

A report released on Tuesday has indicated that the Department of Justice is investigating the possibility that Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and some of its affiliates bribed foreign officials to push the sales of software, The Wall Street Journal has reported. 

The allegations involve officials in Romania, China and Italy, three countries with long rap sheets of bribery patterns. The Journal was careful to note that no party has been accused of wrongdoing, and that the investigation is still in the early stages.

The probe’s targets include resellers of Microsoft software, company consultants and Microsoft’s own employees outside the United States. The sources, who remained anonymous, said the government is investigating whether kickbacks were paid to foreign officials to help close sale of software.

Microsoft lawyer John Frank said the issues raised in the Journal‘s story are important enough to merit a review by the company and the federal government.

“We take all allegations brought to our attention seriously, and we cooperate fully in any government inquiries,” wrote Frank. “Like other large companies with operations around the world, we sometimes receive allegations about potential misconduct by employees or business partners, and we investigate them fully, regardless of the source”…