153 lines
7.1 KiB
HTML
153 lines
7.1 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<html>
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<version>1</version>
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<head>
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<title> News - EU antitrust case over: Samba receives interoperability information</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>EU antitrust case over: Samba receives interoperability information</h1>
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<p class="background">
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In 2004 the European Commission found Microsoft guilty of monopoly
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abuse in the IT marketplace and demanded that complete
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interoperability information be made available to competitors.
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Microsoft objected to this decision and was overruled in September
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2007 by the European Court of First Instance (CFI). The CFI found
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Microsoft guilty of deliberate obstruction of interoperability and
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upheld the obligation for Microsoft to share its protocol
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information.
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</p>
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<p class="background">
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The <a href="http://www.samba.org">Samba</a> Team has decided to make use of Micrsoft's obligation
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under the European judgements. Through the Protocol Freedom
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Information Foundation (PFIF), network interoperability information
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has been requested and a one-time access fee of 10.000 EUR is being
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paid to give Samba team full access to important specifications.
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</p>
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<p>
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"This case is over and interoperability won. The European Court made
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clear that interoperability information should not be kept secret and
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the agreement shows that Microsoft saw no way to continue its
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obstruction of interoperability in this area. This establishes a
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standard which everyone will have to meet from now on," summarizes
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Georg Greve, president of the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE).
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</p>
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<p>
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Jonas Öberg, FSFE's vice president, continues: "Other winners are all
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users of Workgroup productivity applications: Samba will now gain full
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access to all the information necessary for full interoperability with
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today's and tomorrow's Microsoft Workgroup Server products. All users
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stand to benefit from this, even those using Microsoft's products,
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because increased competition is likely to put pressure on Microsoft's
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pricing and decrease Microsoft's margins."
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</p>
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<p>
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"Under the current situation, thanks to the improvements that we have
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been able to obtain, the agreement is the best solution possible. It
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does not solve all the open issues we have with Microsoft, it just
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partially remedies an unfair and illegal situation. It is not a
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settlement, it is compliance to the remedies imposed by the Commission
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and upheld by the EC Courts. And at least it is now fully compatible
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with Free Software licensing," comments Carlo Piana, legal counsel of
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the FSFE.
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</p>
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<p>
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Piana continues: "We have been able once for all to receive a list of
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the patents that Microsoft claims to be reading on the specifications.
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Incredibly we have never been exactly told which those patents
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were. This should be helpful to stop FUD against Samba, and we hope
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the same will happen with other Free Software projects. It is standard
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practice: if you have an issue with somebody, you should tell what
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this issue is, or shut up completely."
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</p>
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<p>
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"The European Commission has been criticised harshly for its agreement
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with Microsoft, in particular its failure to declare potentially
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relevant patents of Microsoft invalid," Jonas Öberg continues: "The
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system is broken and needs fixing, but it is not for civil
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administration to declare specific patents valid or invalid. We need
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informed, transparent and democratic dialog on this issue."
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</p>
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<p>
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Georg Greve adds: "The European Commission got further than any other
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antitrust authority in the world and was more successful. They deserve
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our gratitude and support for having gone 80% of the way. All the same
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one could have hoped for the courage to also mention the problems
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caused by software patents for interoperability and thus competition,
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including a clear request to the proper political places to address
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this issue."
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</p>
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<p>
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"We should also not forget that this is only about one area in which
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Microsoft is showing the same behaviour. There are outstanding
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antitrust complaints from both the European Committee for
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Interoperable Systems (ECIS) and Opera about different abusive
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behaviours in the office, Internet and web browser area," Greve
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adds. "If the same methods are abusive in one area, they should also
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be abusive in another. So if the European Commission wants to follow
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the positive example it set since 1998, it should not fail to also
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investigate the other complaints."
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</p>
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<p>
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"The overall summary is positive. When FSFE set out in 2001 to support
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the European Commission in its antitrust investigation against
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Microsoft, our goal was to make this information available to Free
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Software. Working jointly with the Samba team since 2003, we managed
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to do just that."
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</p>
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<p>
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Jonas Öberg concludes: "Software patents were a problem then and they
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remain a problem today. We will need to solve this problem
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politically, and FSFE intends to keep working on this. Meanwhile I'd
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like to thank all the volunteers and employees of FSFE and Samba who
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worked on this amazing success for Free Software with little or no
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support while others were allowing themselves to be solicited out of
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the case. Our thanks also goes to everyone who supported our work over
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the years and helped make this success possible."
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</p>
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<p>About the Free Software Foundation Europe:</p>
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<p class="aboutfsfe">The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit
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non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and
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involved in many global activities. Access to software determines
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participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in
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the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free
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Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the
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furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study,
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modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these
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issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving
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people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central
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issues of the FSFE.<br />
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<br />
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https://fsfe.org</p>
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<p>Contact:</p>
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<address>
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Georg Greve +41-76-5611866<br />
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Jonas Öberg +46-733-423962<br />
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Carlo Piana +39-347-8835209<br />
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Shane Coughlan +41-79-2633406<br />
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Ciaran O'Riordan +32-477-364419<br />
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</address>
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<p>You can reach the FSFE switchboard from:</p>
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<address>
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Belgium: +32 2 747 03 57<br />
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Germany: +49 700 373 38 76 73<br />
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Sweden: +46 31 7802160<br />
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Switzerland: +41 43 500 03 66<br />
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UK: +44 29 200 08 17 7<br />
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</address>
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</body>
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</html>
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