• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Roundup: Microsoft to License Windows Source Code to Rivals

Posted on: Thursday, 26 January 2006, 09:00 CST

Roundup: Microsoft to license Windows source code to rivals

BRUSSELS, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- In an apparently last-ditch effort to put an end to its eight-year dispute with European Union (EU) regulators, software giant Microsoft announced Wednesday it will license its Windows source code to allow rival firms to develop compatible programs.

The company will offer its rivals access to "the DNA of the Windows operating system" so as to comply with a 2004 EU antitrust ruling, Microsoft Senior Vice President and General Counsel Brad Smith said in Brussels.

Microsoft "will provide software developers the most precise and authoritative description possible" of all technologies that allow Windows server software to communicate with other programs, the Microsoft chief lawyer said.

The EU's executive arm, the European Commission, said it will " study carefully" Microsoft's latest announcement once it has received the full details.

HEAVY PRESSURE FROM EU

The EU has long been complaining about Microsoft's market practices and repeatedly asked for changes from the U.S. software giant.

The European Commission ruled in March 2004 that Microsoft had abused its dominant market position and imposed a fine of 497 million euros on the company, the biggest ever imposed by EU regulators.

The commission ordered Microsoft to unbundle its Media Player software packages and to share its codes with rivals such as Linux.

The biggest competitors of Microsoft's server platform, such as Apache for the web server market and Novell for enterprise groupware systems, are all entirely or partly open source companies and projects, and all of them are publishing their software under licenses that require the source code to be published.

Microsoft appealed against the ruling, arguing that the codes were commercially sensitive information that would allow rivals to effectively 'clone' its widely used Windows software.

The appeal was dismissed by the Court of First instance, the EU 's second-highest court, in December 2004. The court upheld the commission ruling obliging Microsoft to disclose "complete and accurate interface documentation which would allow non-Microsoft workgroup servers to achieve full interoperability with Windows PCs and servers".

Microsoft eventually made some concessions and provided, but the commission still believes it has not gone far enough.

The independent trustee appointed by the EU to assess Microsoft 's compliance with the ruling said that the documentation provided by Microsoft was not sufficient to allow rival firms to develop compatible programs.

Last month, the commission warned that the company could face daily fines of up to 2 million euros if it failed to provide adequate information before January 25.

But the EU regulators agreed Tuesday to extend the deadline by three weeks following a plea from Microsoft for more time to comply with the ruling.

MICROSOFT'S LAST SHOT

Smith said Wednesday that Microsoft is putting its "most valuable intellectual property on the table so we can put technical compliance issues to rest and move forward with a serious discussion about the substance of this case."

"We believe that the 12,000 pages of technical information we have already provided means that we are in full compliance with the commission's demands," he said.

But a commission spokesman said that it was "for the commission, not Microsoft, to decide whether it is in compliance with the 2004 decision".

Smith said Microsoft has already offered 500 hours of free technical assistance to licensees to help them understand the technical documents.

Granting access to the source code for the communication protocols in question should allow the company "to put technical compliance issues to rest", he insisted.

"The source code is the ultimate documentation -- you can't get anything clearer than that," he said.

However, Smith did not conceal differences between his company and the EU.

"We do not agree with the commission that the protocols should be available free-of-charge via open source suppliers," he said.

"We have shown the commission that the protocols are based on a significant amount of patented innovation by Microsoft engineers .. . We do not believe we should be asked to simply give this information away," he said.

Smith declined to say how much a license for access to Windows communication protocols costs, but stressed that the company was always "willing to negotiate".

IT'S EU'S TURN

With the latest gesture from Microsoft, the ball is now in the EU's court.

The European Commission said in a statement it will "study carefully" Microsoft's announcement "once it has received the full details".

The commission meanwhile reiterated that the corporation must reply -- no later than February 15 -- the statement of objection which the commission sent to it last month urging it to comply with the 2004 antitrust ruling.

"The decision concerning full and accurate compliance by Microsoft with the European Commission's March 2004 Decision rests with the Commission", it stressed.

But Jonathan Zuck, president of the U.S.-based Association for Competitive Technology, of which Microsoft is a member, said that the move was "more than the commission ever dreamed of asking from Microsoft".

"If the commission isn't popping the champagne in response, I would be extremely surprised."

But he also warned that the software giant could be setting a dangerous precedent.

"It may only encourage the commission to continue seeking remedies that force successful firms into compulsory licenses that limit incentives for innovation."

Earlier on Wednesday, the Court of First Instance announced the week of April 24 as a provisional date for the hearing of Microsoft's ongoing appeal against the 2004 decision.

Smith said he hoped that the court's decision would finally put a lid on the marathon dispute between the firm and EU regulators.

"We are now more confident than we were in 2004 that we have a strong case," he said.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

More News in this Category