You can’t fight the government and win – not unless you play dirty.

But that won’t stop Google from trying the legal way.

In one corner we have reigning champion heavyweight Microsoft (News - Alert). In the other: an up-and-coming Google.

What has brought them into the ring together? Well, the fight has been a long time in coming, but recently Google (News - Alert) has moved to sue the United States’ Department of the Interior (DOI) for showing Microsoft preferential treatment. The contract is one juicy apple – representing up to $59.3 million over five years.

As per the complaint on file with the US Court of Federal Claims, Google and an Ohio-based service provider, "protest DOI's specification of the Microsoft BPOS-Federal solution on the grounds that such specification is unduly restrictive of competition in violation. The DOI's 'Limited Source (News - Alert) Justification' constitutes a sole-source procurement that is arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, and otherwise contrary to law."

Ding, ding! Let the fight begin.

It’s bound to be an ugly battle, with facts dragged through the mud and perspectives skewed.

But were the Feds just being capricious, or do they have a reason for preferring such a closed market?

It seems that back in 2009. Google employees met with DOI officials to present their cloud software as a candidate – and were rejected based on security concerns. Which is a weakness Google might not want dragged through the public eye.

While the DOI has not been available for public comment, they did release a statement about their Microsoft-driven choice. Apparently Microsoft's suite was the "only commercial product that satisfies every requirement" identified by the agency, the DOI said in its justification for a so-called limited source contract. "Based on ... extensive market research, the department determined that although many companies can provide messaging services in general, they either cannot provide services that address the complexity of messaging requirements within DOI, or they could not meet the degree of security required by DOI," the agency said in documents defending the selection of Microsoft products.

Hmm… so now the Federal government has dove into the ring for an impromptu tag (News - Alert) team match? These odds hardly seem fair…