ARS Technica: Microsoft finally in "full compliance" with 2004 EU antitrust ruling - by Eric Bangeman
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Microsoft finally in "full compliance" with 2004 EU antitrust ruling - by Eric Bangema
Microsoft has ended its multiyear fight against the European Union's antitrust findings and is agreeing to comply fully with the European Commission's remedies in the wake of last month's ruling by the EU Court of First Instance upholding the 2004 finding that Microsoft had abused its dominant market position in Europe. EC Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes welcomed the move, saying that the company has done what is necessary to "ensure full compliance with the 2004 Decision."
Although the software giant had paid the €497 million fine and had released Windows XP N, a unliked and unwanted version of Windows XP with no media-playing functionality, the issue of adequately documenting and licensing its server protocols remained a sticking point. Fed up with what it believed to be Microsoft's inflexibility on the licensing terms, the EC imposed a €3 million fine for each day the company was out of compliance. According to the EC, Microsoft has finally come up with acceptable solutions for licensing the server protocols to third parties, using two separate licensing models. The first is a "No Patent Agreement" license, which will give companies access to interoperability information without an additional license for the patents Microsoft believes are necessary. The royalty rate for such a license is €10,000, a figure the EC deems acceptable. The license will also be "compatible with the open source business model" and will provide a means for effectively addressing disputes over the accuracy and thoroughness of the documentation.
