91 wiersze
4.0 KiB
HTML
91 wiersze
4.0 KiB
HTML
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<title>News - Microsoft pledge excluding primary competitors</title>
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<h1>Microsoft pledge excluding primary competitors</h1>
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<p>Yesterday's media briefing by Microsoft on its pledge to release
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interoperability information for flagship products contained little
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actual news. Over the years
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<a href="https://lists.fsfe.org/pipermail/press-release/2006q1/000126.html"
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>Microsoft has made multiple similar pledges</a>
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and they at times proved to be detrimental rather than beneficial for
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interoperability. Examining the terms of the Microsoft's latest action
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shows no major change of policy.</p>
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<p>The announcement confirmed that Microsoft was planning to use its
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software patent portfolio against interoperating products <a
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href="http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/feb08/02-21ExpandInteroperabilityPR.mspx"
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>by requiring a patent license for all commercial activity</a>. This is consistent with
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its previous attempts at allowing competition only where it provides no
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actual challenge to its monopolies.</p>
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<p>Microsoft's patent licences are incompatible with Free Software, the
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primary competitor to Microsoft in many markets. Almost all major
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competitors have made significant investments in Free Software and built
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substantial parts of their business on the principles of freedom of
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competition and innovation.</p>
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<p>Free Software's freedoms to use, study, share and improve software
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without additional restrictions are key to the success and utility of
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Free Software in both commercial and non-commercial ICT
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infrastructure. They are also the basis for many of today's working
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examples of interoperability and competition.</p>
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<p>Microsoft's announcement contains little more than a statement that they
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will support interoperability only under terms that disallow fair
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competition. Their press statements may indicate otherwise, but terms
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of release highlight this explicitly. There has never been a shortage
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of promises by Microsoft, but results are what must be considered rather
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than words.</p>
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<p>Regrettably, the lack of substance in the pledge and the timing suggest
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that Microsoft is primarily hoping for positive media coverage and not an
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examination of the substance of their limited interoperability release.</p>
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<p>It can be no coincidence that delegates are meeting in Geneva for the
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Ballot Resolution Meeting (BRM) during this period to discuss <a
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href="/activities/msooxml/msooxml-idiosyncrasies.html">serious
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issues in the proposed MS-OOXML format</a>, through which Microsoft aims
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to reaffirm <a href="http://news.zdnet.co.uk/leader/0,1000002982,39292519,00.htm"
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>their control over standards in the global marketplace</a>.</p>
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<p>If Microsoft truly means to facilitate interoperability and fair access
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they should spare delegates the BRM, retract MS-OOXML from ISO and
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converge this work into the global effort for the Open Document Format,
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the existing Open Standard at ISO for office documents.</p>
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<p>They should also release full interoperability information for all their
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products without restrictions of any kind.</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 issues,
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securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people
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Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues
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of the FSFE.<br/>
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<br/>
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Further information: https://fsfe.org</p>
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