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  <head>    <title> News - EU antitrust case over: Samba receives interoperability information</title>  </head>
  <body>    <h1>EU antitrust case over: Samba receives interoperability information</h1>    <p class="background">      In 2004 the European Commission found Microsoft guilty of monopoly      abuse in the IT marketplace and demanded that complete      interoperability information be made available to competitors.      Microsoft objected to this decision and was overruled in September      2007 by the European Court of First Instance (CFI). The CFI found      Microsoft guilty of deliberate obstruction of interoperability and      upheld the obligation for Microsoft to share its protocol      information.    </p>    <p class="background">	    The <a href="http://www.samba.org">Samba</a> Team has decided to make use of Micrsoft's obligation      under the European judgements. Through the Protocol Freedom      Information Foundation (PFIF), network interoperability information      has been requested and a one-time access fee of 10.000 EUR is being      paid to give Samba team full access to important specifications.    </p>    <p>      "This case is over and interoperability won. The European Court made      clear that interoperability information should not be kept secret and      the agreement shows that Microsoft saw no way to continue its      obstruction of interoperability in this area. This establishes a      standard which everyone will have to meet from now on," summarizes      Georg Greve, president of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE).    </p>    <p>      Jonas Öberg, FSFE's vice president, continues: "Other winners are all      users of Workgroup productivity applications: Samba will now gain full      access to all the information necessary for full interoperability with      today's and tomorrow's Microsoft Workgroup Server products. All users      stand to benefit from this, even those using Microsoft's products,      because increased competition is likely to put pressure on Microsoft's      pricing and decrease Microsoft's margins."    </p>    <p>      "Under the current situation, thanks to the improvements that we have      been able to obtain, the agreement is the best solution possible. It      does not solve all the open issues we have with Microsoft, it just      partially remedies an unfair and illegal situation. It is not a      settlement, it is compliance to the remedies imposed by the Commission      and upheld by the EC Courts. And at least it is now fully compatible      with Free Software licensing," comments Carlo Piana, legal counsel of      the FSFE.    </p>    <p>      Piana continues: "We have been able once for all to receive a list of      the patents that Microsoft claims to be reading on the specifications.      Incredibly we have never been exactly told which those patents      were. This should be helpful to stop FUD against Samba, and we hope      the same will happen with other Free Software projects. It is standard      practice: if you have an issue with somebody, you should tell what      this issue is, or shut up completely."    </p>    <p>      "The European Commission has been criticised harshly for its agreement      with Microsoft, in particular its failure to declare potentially      relevant patents of Microsoft invalid," Jonas Öberg continues: "The      system is broken and needs fixing, but it is not for civil      administration to declare specific patents valid or invalid. We need      informed, transparent and democratic dialog on this issue."    </p>    <p>      Georg Greve adds: "The European Commission got further than any other      antitrust authority in the world and was more successful. They deserve      our gratitude and support for having gone 80% of the way. All the same      one could have hoped for the courage to also mention the problems      caused by software patents for interoperability and thus competition,      including a clear request to the proper political places to address      this issue."    </p>    <p>      "We should also not forget that this is only about one area in which      Microsoft is showing the same behaviour. There are outstanding      antitrust complaints from both the European Committee for      Interoperable Systems (ECIS) and Opera about different abusive      behaviours in the office, Internet and web browser area," Greve      adds. "If the same methods are abusive in one area, they should also      be abusive in another. So if the European Commission wants to follow      the positive example it set since 1998, it should not fail to also      investigate the other complaints."    </p>    <p>      "The overall summary is positive. When FSFE set out in 2001 to support      the European Commission in its antitrust investigation against      Microsoft, our goal was to make this information available to Free      Software. Working jointly with the Samba team since 2003, we managed      to do just that."    </p>    <p>      Jonas Öberg concludes: "Software patents were a problem then and they      remain a problem today. We will need to solve this problem      politically, and FSFE intends to keep working on this. Meanwhile I'd      like to thank all the volunteers and employees of FSFE and Samba who      worked on this amazing success for Free Software with little or no      support while others were allowing themselves to be solicited out of      the case. Our thanks also goes to everyone who supported our work over      the years and helped make this success possible."    </p>
    <p>About the Free Software Foundation Europe:</p>
    <p class="aboutfsfe">The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit    non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and    involved in many global activities. Access to software determines    participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in    the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free    Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the    furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,    modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these    issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving    people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central    issues of the FSFE.<br  />    <br />    https://fsfe.org</p>

    <p>Contact:</p>    <address>      Georg Greve		+41-76-5611866<br />      Jonas Öberg		+46-733-423962<br />      Carlo Piana		+39-347-8835209<br />      Shane Coughlan	+41-79-2633406<br />      Ciaran O'Riordan	+32-477-364419<br />    </address>
    <p>You can reach the FSFE switchboard from:</p>    <address>      Belgium:     +32 2 747 03 57<br />      Germany:     +49 700 373 38 76 73<br />      Sweden:      +46 31 7802160<br />      Switzerland: +41 43 500 03 66<br />      UK:          +44 29 200 08 17 7<br />    </address>  </body>
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