Interview with ECIS’s Thomas Vinje and Ashwin van Rooijen on the Microsoft-EU Commission Deal

“Here’s the meat of the statement:

“While FSFE’s input as a steadfast defender of software freedom
over the past seven years has helped to bring about some
improvements on details of the browser selection screen, the
updated agreement proposed by Microsoft does not address the
legitimate concerns of the Free Software community.

“Karsten Gerloff, FSFE’s President, says: “In its current form,
Microsoft’s proposal has many loopholes for the convicted
monopolist to slip through. The lack of a monitoring system leaves
Free Software projects out in the cold. There is no clear
commitment from Microsoft to adhere to web standards in the future,
nor to end the company’s habit of adding proprietary extensions to
standards.”

“In order to fend off another possible investigation by the
European Commission, Microsoft is also offering a set of promises
to let rival programs work with some of its desktop applications
such as Outlook and Sharepoint. Yet Free Software projects, which
are often the strongest competitors to the company’s offerings,
will not be able to use the patent licence proposed by
Microsoft.

“FSFE’s legal counsel Carlo Piana says: “We are disappointed
that major issues for Free Software and other small, innovative
players remain unaddressed. Private enforcement is out of reach for
them. This is a missed opportunity to break new ground in antitrust
enforcement.”

“FSFE will analyse Microsoft’s proposed commitment in detail in
the coming weeks and provide feedback to the Commission. Our goal
is to help shape a deal for a sustainable, interoperable and
competitive future.”

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