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Thursday, 25 October 2007 |
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Microsoft concedes defeat to EU pressure on Windows.
The Beast of Redmond has whimpered its way out of a long-running legal tussle with the European Commission. The company will swallow a €285mn fine, as only it can, and will “license its trade secrets on an open source basis.”
It’s hard to write the words ‘Microsoft’ and ‘open source’ in the same sentence, at least when the word ‘not’ fails to figure prominently.
On Monday, Microsoft said: “at the time the Court of First Instance issued its judgment in September, Microsoft committed to taking any further steps necessary to achieve full compliance with the Commission’s decision. We have undertaken a constructive discussion with the Commission and have now agreed on those additional steps. We will not appeal the CFI’s decision to the European Court of Justice and will continue to work closely with the Commission and the industry to ensure a flourishing and competitive environment for information technology in Europe and around the world.”
Yesterday it added: “we believe it’s important at this stage to focus all of our energies on complying with our legal obligations and strengthening our constructive relationship with the European Commission”, said Erich Andersen, European General Counsel for Microsoft.
Just over a month ago, when the CFI gave Microsoft a bloody nose by backing the EC, Brad Smith, Microsoft Corp Senior Vice President and General Counsel, said winningly: “I would note that a lot has changed since this case started in 1998. The world has changed, the industry has changed, and our company has changed. We sought to underscore that over a year ago when we published what we described as our ‘Windows Principles’, principles intended to ensure that future versions of Windows, starting with Windows Vista, would comport not only with the principles of U.S. law but with the principles that are applicable here in Europe as well. We’ve sought to be open and transparent, and we’ve sought to strengthen our ties with the rest of our industry. Indeed, it’s notable that just last week we announced a new agreement with Sun Microsystems, and the week before that we announced a new agreement with Novell, two of the companies that started out on the other side of this case almost nine years ago. “
Note: ‘when we started out on the other side of this case almost nine years ago’. Who has profited in the meantime? €285mn looks like a small price to pay.
Jim Chalmers
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