138 lines
4.8 KiB
HTML
138 lines
4.8 KiB
HTML
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Software patents vs Microsoft antitrust suit: European Commission is going to undermine some of its best work - 2 May 2005
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</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<center>
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<h1>Software Patents in Europe</h1>
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[ <a href="/campaigns/swpat/swpat.html">Introduction</a>
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| <a href="/campaigns/swpat/background.html">Background</a>
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| <a href="/campaigns/swpat/status.html">Status</a>
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| <a href="/campaigns/swpat/documents.html">Further Reading</a> ]
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</center>
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<br />
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<center>
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Open Letter
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[<a href="/campaigns/swpat/letter-20040510.html">2004-05-10</a>]
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[<a href="/campaigns/swpat/letter-20040531.html">2004-05-31</a>]
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[<a href="/campaigns/swpat/letter-20040706.html">2004-07-06</a>]
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[<a href="/campaigns/swpat/letter-20040802.html">2004-08-02</a>]
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[<a href="/campaigns/swpat/letter-20040906.html">2004-09-06</a>]
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[<a href="/campaigns/swpat/letter-20041004.html">2004-10-04</a>]
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[<a href="/campaigns/swpat/letter-20041101.html">2004-11-01</a>]
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[<a href="/campaigns/swpat/letter-20041206.html">2004-12-06</a>]
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[<a href="/campaigns/swpat/letter-20050103.html">2005-01-03</a>]
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[<a href="/campaigns/swpat/letter-20050207.html">2005-02-07</a>]
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[<a href="/campaigns/swpat/letter-20050307.html">2005-03-07</a>]
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[<a href="/campaigns/swpat/letter-20050405.html">2005-04-05</a>]
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[2005-05-02]
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[<a href="/campaigns/swpat/letter-20050606.html">2005-06-06</a>]
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</center>
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<h2>
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Software patents vs Microsoft antitrust suit: European Commission is going to undermine some of its best work
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</h2>
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<h3>2 May 2005</h3>
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<p>
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Mr. Charlie McCreevy is the member of the European Commission responsible for internal market and services.
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</p>
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<p>Dear Mr. McCreevy,</p>
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<p>
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The European Commission is currently involved in a historic antitrust
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suit with Microsoft. After similar proceedings have failed in other
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parts of the world, the Commission is spearheading the last effort to
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return the chance of competition into the desktop and workgroup server
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market. In addition, as the decision of the European Court of First
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Instance has confirmed, this is urgently needed. This is why FSFE is
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supporting your work.
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</p>
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<p>
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Unfortunately, that unique success is now in danger of becoming a
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meaningless victory. With the current Common Position on the directive
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on "computer implemented inventions" -- adopted 7 March 2005 by the
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European Council -- software patents will cover the interfaces and
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file formats.
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</p>
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<p>
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The central issue of the antitrust case is the protocols that are
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"used on the wire" -- without these, only Microsoft can write software
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that is interoperable with it's desktop monopoly -- thus extending
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their dominance into the workgroup server market. As FSFE has pointed
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out in support of the Commission, this information is not secret
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because it is valuable, it is valuable because it is secret.
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</p>
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<p>
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An analogy can be drawn by comparing computer networks to telephone
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networks. What Microsoft has done is declare the specific frequencies
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used to dial the numbers one and zero "multi-million dollar
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investments". The European Commission rightly did not allow Microsoft
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to confuse convention with invention.</p>
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<p>
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The current proposed directive grants patents on interfaces and file
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formats, the digital equivalent of spoken languages, this proposal
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supports monopolising conventions as if they were inventions. Allowing
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Microsoft to extend its monopoly beyond the reach of any antitrust
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commission in the world, it comes as little surprise that Microsoft is
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strongly supportive of the current draft of the directive.
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</p>
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<p>
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Therefore, the end result may be that Ms Kroes might find a European
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antitrust law victory an empty one: Having forced Microsoft to publish
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the information necessary to achieve interoperability, it might have
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become illegal to write interoperable software. We are therefore
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concerned that in a few years you may be forced to draw the conclusion
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that Europe has "won the battle, but lost the war".
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</p>
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<p>
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We jointly urge you and the European Parliament to mandate a clear
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definition of the innovation in which software may be included, but
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which may not consist of software alone. It is seminal to firmly make
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the statement that data processing and transmission are excluded from
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patentability.
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</p>
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<p>
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That way Europe can win both the battle and the war.
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</p>
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<p>With kind regards,</p>
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<p>
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<a href="/about/greve/">Georg Greve</a><br />
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President<br />
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Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE)<br />
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<a href="/">fsfe.org</a>
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</p>
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</body>
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