earobinson
September 8th, 2005, 03:15 PM
Microsoft files appeal against EU antitrust ruling on open source code
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Microsoft Corp. has filed a second appeal against a European Union ruling ordering it to share code with open-source software companies, officials said Wednesday.
The company's spokesman Tom Brookes said the new appeal before the EU's second-highest court comes in the wake of a June agreement with the EU head office to let the courts decide the source code issue.
He said Microsoft planned to defend its view that the interoperability protocols -- server software which helps Windows-powered computers communicate with other computers and software -- are Microsoft's intellectual property and should not be shared or given away for free.
"We are taking this step so the court can begin its review now of this issue given its far-reaching implications for the protection of our intellectual property rights around the world," said Brookes.
EU spokesman Jonathan Todd said Microsoft's interoperability protocols were not eligible for intellectual property protection and should be able to circulate among open-source companies -- so called because their underlying code is freely shared -- according to their usual business licenses.
However, the EU's executive Commission said it believed the matter would be settled if the Luxembourg-based Court of First Instance upholds the March 2004 ruling against the company.
A date has not yet been set for the first appeal against the EU's order for Microsoft to pay 497 million euro (US$620 million), Europe's largest ever antitrust fine.
The court can decide to treat Microsoft's latest filing on Aug. 10 as a separate case or join it into the appeal filed last year.
When asked if the Commission knew Microsoft had planned to file another appeal, Todd said the EU was aware that Microsoft did not agree with its position on sharing the protocols with open-source firms.
"If they do not share our point of view, they are of course free to go back to the court if they want to, which is what they've done," he said.
The EU claimed the software giant had abusively wielded its Windows software domination to lock competitors out of the market. It ordered Microsoft to sell a version of its Windows software without Media Player and compelled it to share technology with competitors that make server software so their products can better communicate with Windows-powered computers. (AP)
September 7, 2005
Original source: http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/business/news/20050907p2g00m0bu034000c.html
That would be pretty cool cuz it would let people like the gaim dev team actualy connect to msn without all the reverce engenearing.
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Microsoft Corp. has filed a second appeal against a European Union ruling ordering it to share code with open-source software companies, officials said Wednesday.
The company's spokesman Tom Brookes said the new appeal before the EU's second-highest court comes in the wake of a June agreement with the EU head office to let the courts decide the source code issue.
He said Microsoft planned to defend its view that the interoperability protocols -- server software which helps Windows-powered computers communicate with other computers and software -- are Microsoft's intellectual property and should not be shared or given away for free.
"We are taking this step so the court can begin its review now of this issue given its far-reaching implications for the protection of our intellectual property rights around the world," said Brookes.
EU spokesman Jonathan Todd said Microsoft's interoperability protocols were not eligible for intellectual property protection and should be able to circulate among open-source companies -- so called because their underlying code is freely shared -- according to their usual business licenses.
However, the EU's executive Commission said it believed the matter would be settled if the Luxembourg-based Court of First Instance upholds the March 2004 ruling against the company.
A date has not yet been set for the first appeal against the EU's order for Microsoft to pay 497 million euro (US$620 million), Europe's largest ever antitrust fine.
The court can decide to treat Microsoft's latest filing on Aug. 10 as a separate case or join it into the appeal filed last year.
When asked if the Commission knew Microsoft had planned to file another appeal, Todd said the EU was aware that Microsoft did not agree with its position on sharing the protocols with open-source firms.
"If they do not share our point of view, they are of course free to go back to the court if they want to, which is what they've done," he said.
The EU claimed the software giant had abusively wielded its Windows software domination to lock competitors out of the market. It ordered Microsoft to sell a version of its Windows software without Media Player and compelled it to share technology with competitors that make server software so their products can better communicate with Windows-powered computers. (AP)
September 7, 2005
Original source: http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/business/news/20050907p2g00m0bu034000c.html
That would be pretty cool cuz it would let people like the gaim dev team actualy connect to msn without all the reverce engenearing.