Out-Law News 1 min. read
06 Jun 2005, 3:39 pm
The test relates only to the interoperability side of proposals submitted to the Commission last week, and follows concerns that Microsoft is charging too much for interoperability licenses and is not providing sufficient technical detail to allow competitors to assess whether they should buy a licence, albeit there is no requirement on Microsoft to provide source code.
Subject to the results of the market test, the Commission says that work group server developers interested in receiving interoperability information from Microsoft will be able to develop and sell their products on a global basis.
The Commission also reports that Microsoft has recognised the need to enhance the options available to interoperability recipients by creating a range of packages of information from which they can choose according to their needs.
Furthermore, there will be a category of interoperability information that will be disclosed royalty-free.
"I am happy that Microsoft has recognised certain principles which must underlie its implementation of the Commission's Decision" said European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes. "I remain determined to ensure that all elements of the Decision are properly implemented. This includes the ability for developers of open source software to take advantage of the remedy," she added.
The question of open source accessibility to the code has proved a sticking point in the negotiations.
Microsoft considers that the software source code developed by recipients of the interoperability information that implements the Microsoft protocols should not be published under a so-called "open source licence".
However the Commission considers that, if the Court of First Instance rules in favour of the Commission in Microsoft's appeal against the Commission's antitrust finding, this should be possible for the protocols that do not embody innovations.
The Commission confirmed today that, if the Court rules in its favour, it is committed to ensuring that this will be the case.
Background
The Commission found Microsoft guilty of breaking competition law last March, ruling that the software giant had leveraged its near monopoly in the market for PC operating systems onto the markets for work group server operating systems and for media players.
As a sanction, the Commission ordered Microsoft to disclose to competitors the interfaces required for their products to be able to "talk" with the ubiquitous Windows operating system.
Microsoft was also required to offer an alternative stripped-down version of Windows to PC manufacturers and when selling directly to end users and it was fined €497 million for abusing its market dominance in the EU.
Microsoft paid the fine into an escrow account in July 2004, where it will be held until the appeal against the ruling has been resolved – a process that could take up to five years to complete.
