{"id":547846,"date":"2006-01-26T13:37:23","date_gmt":"2006-01-26T13:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wordpress\/technology\/547846-microsoft-offers-rivals-source-code.html"},"modified":"2006-01-26T13:37:23","modified_gmt":"2006-01-26T13:37:23","slug":"microsoft-offers-rivals-source-code","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/technology\/547846-microsoft-offers-rivals-source-code.html","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft offers rivals source code"},"content":{"rendered":"

With only three weeks until a compliance deadline set by Brussels, which had threatened fines of \u20ac2m ($2.5m) a day, Brad Smith, the group\u2019s general counsel, said: \u201cWe are putting our most valuable intellectual property on the table.\u201d<\/font> <\/p>\n

However, while the software giant said the move went beyond the Commission\u2019s requirements, rivals were quick to say it fell far short of the demands on Microsoft. The Commission refused to say whether the offer was good enough.<\/font> <\/p>\n

Microsoft\u2019s offer, which it hopes will remove the threat of fresh financial penalties, came in response to a European Commission warning last month that it would impose fines unless the software group complied quickly with Brussels\u2019 2004 antitrust ruling against the US group. The daily fines would come on top of the record \u20ac497m payment the Commission ordered in 2004.<\/font> <\/p>\n

The regulator said Microsoft had failed to comply with a part of the ruling requiring the software group to share information about its Windows operating system. That information, the Commission argues, is essential for rivals wanting to develop software that works with Windows-driven computers and servers.\u00a0<\/font> <\/p>\n

Microsoft argues that in giving away a part of its source code \u2013 the basic programming instructions that form the core of the operating system \u2013 it has gone beyond the Commission\u2019s demand. But rivals say that instead it has dumped a vast amount of data on companies without the \u201croad map\u201d that tells them how to use it. The regulator did not, however, order Microsoft to release parts of the Windows source code.<\/font> <\/p>\n

In an attempt to end months of wrangling over the extent of the information required by the decision, Microsoft said it would license the relevant parts of the Windows source code.<\/font> <\/p>\n

Mr Smith said: \u201cWe have come to the conclusion that the only way to be certain of satisfying the Commission\u2019s demands is to go beyond the 2004 decision and offer a licence to the source code of the Windows server operating system.\u201d<\/font> <\/p>\n

Microsoft\u2019s rivals dismissed the group\u2019s offer. Thomas Vinje, a partner at Clifford Chance, who represents several Microsoft rivals, said the move was a\u00a0\u201cPR ploy\u201d. He added: \u201cMicrosoft is offering to dump a huge load of source code on companies that have not asked for source code and cannot use it. Without a roadmap that says how to use the code, a software engineer will not be able to design interoperable products.\u201d<\/font> <\/p>\n

Mr Smith had pointed out that the group had drawn up 12,000 pages of interoperability information for potential licensees, and had offered free advice on how to use the technical specifications contained on those pages.<\/font> <\/p>\n

Inet-Bridge ||\u00a0 <\/font>Discuss this article<\/font><\/a> <\/font><\/p>\n

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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Microsoft made a concession in its six-year dispute with European competition regulators on Wednesday by offering to give rivals access to parts of its Windows source code.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-547846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547846"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}