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135 lines
8.4 KiB
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<head>
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<title>FSFE and the antitrust case against Microsoft</title>
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<meta name="project-complete" content="true" />
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</head>
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<body>
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<p id="category"><a href="/activities/activities.html">Our Work</a></p>
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<h1>FSFE and the antitrust case against Microsoft</h1>
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<div id="introduction">
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<p class="background">
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Working with the Samba developers, FSFE's role was to
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ensure that Free Software developers would not be
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prevented from using information published as a result
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of the European Commission's antitrust case against
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Microsoft. See also: <a href="background">Background
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details</a>, <a
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href="/activities/ms-vs-eu/timeline.html">Timeline
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of the case</a>.
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</p>
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</div>
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<h2>Representation of developer's interest</h2>
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<p>
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FSFE played two key roles in this case. First, we represented the
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interests of Free Software developers. E.g. in our official role as
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Intervener, we pushed the European Commission to reject any royalty
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requirements that would be incompatible with Free Software. We also
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argued constantly for the publication of good quality technical
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documentation and against lock-out of Free Software based on arbitrary
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manipulations of formats and standards.
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</p>
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<h2>Incorruptible</h2>
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<p>
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Second, FSFE was a public interest organisation who couldn't be bought
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off. The case began with many companies giving testimony of Microsoft's
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breaches of antitrust regulation, but one-by-one these companies made
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deals with Microsoft and withdrew from the case. FSFE and SIIA were the
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only two organisations that pursued this case from start to finish. We
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were later joined by ECIS, who did extraordinary work, but there were
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moments when it got lonely for the Commission.
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</p>
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<h2>Getting interoperability information</h2>
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<p>
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At the heart of this case was that the European Commission would require
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Microsoft to publish interoperability information. Comparable to
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dictionaries and grammar books for human languages, this type of
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information is necessary for non-Microsoft software, such as Samba
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running on GNU/Linux, to communicate and function fully within existing
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client-server Microsoft networks.
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</p>
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<p>
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Previously, the Samba developers had to figure this information out by
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protocol analysis only. This information that Microsoft had was not
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secret because it was valuable. It was valuable only because it was
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secret.
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</p>
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<h2>Investigation case won every ruling</h2>
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<p>
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Thanks also to the persistent work by Carlo Piana, Andrew Tridgell,
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Jeremy Allison, Volker Lendecke, Georg Greve and other people acting on
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FSFE and Samba's behalf, the investigation case won every ruling - From
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the European Commission in Brussels to the European Court of Justice in
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Luxembourg.
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</p>
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<h2>Interoperable applications now possible</h2>
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<p>
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Information has now been published and is being used by the developers
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of Samba and many other projects to improve network interoperability
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for Free Software applications. This facilitates migration to Free
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Software. The court rulings have also set important precedents
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regarding unacceptable business practices.
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</p>
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<h2 id="more">More Information</h2>
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<ul>
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<li>2012-06-26/27 [NEWS & ANALYSIS] <a href="/news/2012/news-20120627-01.html">FSFE's
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comment on the final ruling by the European Court of Justice</a>.
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Carlo Piana, FSFE's General Counsel, <a
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href="http://piana.eu/msft_ends">discusses the ruling in detail</a>.</li>
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<li>2011-05-31 [INTERVIEW] <a href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20110530202005299">European Commission vs. Microsoft – The On-going Saga. Groklaw interview with Karsten Gerloff and Carlo Piana</a></li>
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<li>2011-05-27 [BLOG] <a href="https://blogs.fsfe.org/gerloff/2011/05/27/samba-case-hearing-how-microsofts-gamble-backfired-2/">Samba case hearing: How Microsoft’s gamble backfired</a> - A summary of the hearing</li>
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<li>2011-05-25 [NEWS] <a href="/news/2011/news-20110525-01.html">FSFE in Samba case: Microsoft's defiance backfired</a> - FSFE PR about the hearing</li>
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<li>2008-02-28 [NEWS] <a href="/news/2008/news-20080228-01.html">FSFE calls on Microsoft to release interoperability information without restrictions</a></li>
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<li>2007-12-20 [NEWS] "<a href="/news/2007/news-20071220-01.html">EU antitrust case over: Samba receives interoperability information</a>"</li>
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<li>2007-09-17 [INTERVIEW] <a href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070919214307459">Interview with Georg Greve of FSFE, Jeremy Allison and Volker Lendecke of Samba, and FSFE's lawyer Carlo Piana (audio and transcript)</a></li>
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<li>2007-09-17 [NEWS] FSFE: "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2007q3/000186.html">FSFE, Samba: A triumph for freedom of choice and competition.</a>"</li>
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<li>2006-04-28 [INTERVIEW] <a href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=2006042816483566">Georg Greve talks about the recent hearings (audio and transcript)</a></li>
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<li>2006-04-27 [NEWS] Microsoft: "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2006q2/000138.html">Our software patents preclude interoperability</a>"</li>
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<li>2006-04-21 [NEWS] FSFE: "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2006q2/000136.html">Microsoft locks in customers and pushes software patents to prevent competition.</a>"</li>
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<li>2006-04-21 [ARTICLE] <a href="article-20060421.html">Software Patents
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Could Reduce The Microsoft Antitrust Suit To Absurdity</a></li>
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<li>2006-03-31 [INTERVIEW] <a href="http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060401001402147">Carlo Piana talks about the case (audio and transcript)</a></li>
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<li>2006-03-07 [DOCUMENT] <a href="non_paper.pdf">Letter from FSFE's lawyer Carlo Piana (PDF)</a></li>
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<li>2006-03-07 [DOCUMENT] <a href="fsfe_art18_reply_published_sourcecode.pdf">FSFE/Samba Team response to Art. 18 Letter (PDF)</a></li>
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<li>2006-03-07 [DOCUMENT] <a href="fsfe_art18_reply-source_code_reference_license.pdf">FSFE/Samba Team response to Art. 18 Letter on "source code" (PDF)</a></li>
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<li>2006-02-16 [NEWS] "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2006q1/000129.html">FSFE to Microsoft: stop complaining, and start complying!</a>"</li>
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<li>2006-01-26 [NEWS] "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2006q1/000126.html">FSFE: "Microsoft offers poisoned apple" - "
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Praises premature in hindsight"</a>"</li>
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<li>2005-11-23 [NEWS] "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2005q4/000122.html">FSFE files application for leave to intervene in antitrust suit against Microsoft</a>"</li>
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<li>2005-10-14 [NEWS] "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2005q4/000118.html">Real Networks - Microsoft: "FSFE is not and never will be for sale"</a>"</li>
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<li>2005-06-07 [NEWS] "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2005q2/000105.html">FSFE: "Microsoft abuses the good will of Ms. Kroes" - "European Commission is about to enter legal house-to-house fighting!"</a>"</li>
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<li>2005-04-01 [NEWS] "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2005q2/000098.html">How to make Microsoft respect European Authorities - FSFE recommends permanent monitoring</a>"</li>
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<li>2005-03-21 [NEWS] "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2005q1/000097.html">FSFE to help bring Microsoft to its feet</a>"</li>
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<li>2004-11-24 [NEWS] "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2004q4/000083.html">Freedom is priceless, but has a cost!</a>"</li>
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<li>2004-11-09 [NEWS] "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2004q4/000081.html">For the FSFE, the battle continues</a>"</li>
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<li>2004-10-01 [NEWS] "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2004q4/000075.html">First hearing in the Microsoft Vs EC antitrust case</a>"</li>
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<li>2004-09-30 [DOCUMENT] <a href="intervention-20040930.html">Intervention to the Court of the European Union on behalf of the Free Software Foundation Europe</a></li>
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<li>2004-09-29 [NEWS] "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2004q3/000074.html">FSFE not inclined to pay legal costs of Microsoft</a>"</li>
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<li>2004-07-27 [NEWS] "<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2004q3/000067.html">FSFE to challenge Microsoft in its appeal against European Commission</a>"</li>
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</ul>
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</body>
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