General counsel Brad Smith announced in Brussels that Microsoft was going all in and calling the EU over their Statement of Objections issued in December 2005.
Microsoft has moved beyond the European Union’s request for technical specifications to permit third-party application interoperability with Windows Server. Instead of just communication protocols, Microsoft disclosed in a statement it would license all the Windows Server source code:
“Today we are putting our 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,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “The Windows source code is the ultimate documentation of Windows Server technologies. With this step our goal is to resolve all questions about the sufficiency of our technical documentation.”
Microsoft has battled the EU since March 2004 over the source code issue. Making that available was tantamount to the company cannibalizing its operating system business. For its resistance, Microsoft could have faced multi-million dollar penalties.
The company said it has created more than 12,000 pages of documentation on the communication protocols and the source code for developers who license the server software under Microsoft’s program.
“While we are confident that we are presently in full compliance with the Decision we wish to dispel any notion that Microsoft’s technical documents are insufficient,” said Smith.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
