89 lines
3.6 KiB
HTML
89 lines
3.6 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
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<html newsdate="2011-04-20">
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<version>1</version>
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<head>
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<title>Free Software crucial to competition, regulators in Novell patent deal say</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>Free Software crucial to competition, regulators in Novell patent deal say</h1>
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<p>Competition authorities in Germany and the
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United States today highlighted the fundamental role that Free
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Software plays for competition in the software market. After
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several months of discussions, the <a href="http://7thspace.com/headlines/379849/usdoj_cptn_holdings_llc_and_novell_inc_change_deal_in_order_to_address_department_of_justiceandaposs_open_source_concerns.html">US Department of Justice</a>
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(DOJ) and the <a href="http://www.bundeskartellamt.de/wDeutsch/aktuelles/presse/2011_04_20W3DnavidW261.php">German Federal Competition Office</a> (FCO) have
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allowed a consortium of Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and EMC to
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acquire 882 patents from Novell only subject to conditions
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clearly intended to prevent their use against Free Software
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players.</p>
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<p>
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"This is an historic step", says Karsten Gerloff, President of the
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Free Software Foundation Europe, which was involved in the FCO
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investigation <a href="/activities/swpat/letter-20101222.html">since the beginning</a>. "The regulators acknowledge that
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Free Software is crucial to competition; that patent aggression can
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well be anticompetitive behaviour; and that fear, uncertainty and
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doubt serve to push smaller competitors out of the market."
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</p>
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<h2>Parallels to Microsoft case - no patent privilege</h2>
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<p>
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"FSFE has been highlighting the danger of software patents for a
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decade," says FSFE's legal counsel Carlo Piana. In the present
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transaction, patents play a similar role as they did in the European
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Commission's antitrust proceedings against Microsoft. Microsoft was
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forced to disclose its secret protocols, but refused to make them
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available under conditions that would allow their use in GPL-licensed
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Free Software. FSFE is glad to see that conversely in this situation
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antitrust authorities on both sides of the Atlantic are recognising
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the power of copyleft Free Software licenses to preserve competition.
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</p>
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<p>
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The decisions by the FCO and the DOJ are also an acknowledgement that
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regulatory intervention can be necessary to overcome vendor lock-in
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and create a level playing field for all market participants. "Patents
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are not an excuse to avoid antitrust scrutiny. Today's announcements
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make that clear as daylight" says Piana. In a hearing at the European
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Court of Justice next month, FSFE will state its objections to
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Microsoft's strategy of using patents to limit competition, as
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Microsoft is appealing the fine of 899 million Euro imposed by the
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Commission.
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</p>
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<p>
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FSFE will carefully review the actual decisions as they become
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available. "Today's announcements point in a very interesting
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direction. It is a success for the <a href="/activities/activities.html">intense work done</a> by FSFE and
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others, such as the Free Software Foundation and the Open Source
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Initiative. But the conditions we've seen are no panacea. The devil
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will be in the details," says Gerloff. Intense monitoring by the
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competition authorities will be required to ensure that the conditions
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for the transaction will have the intended effect.
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</p>
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<p>
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See also <a href="/activities/swpat/letter-20110406.html">FSFE response to questions</a> by German FCO from April 6, 2011
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</p>
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</body>
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<tags>
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<tag key="front-page"/>
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<tag key="swpat">Software Patents</tag>
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<tag key="competition"/>
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</tags>
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</html>
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