The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is
intervening in the case Microsoft has brought against the European
Commission over its order that the company’s server protocols
should be available to the open-source community.
The order to release the server protocols came out of the
European Commission’s anti-trust investigation into the firm, which
led to a big fine being imposed on Microsoft, plus various
anti-trust measures being taken against the company.
Microsoft has appealed the whole judgement and followed up with
a separate lawsuit against the European Commission regarding the
server protocol order.
The FSFE, which defends the interests of open-source developers,
is already involved in Microsoft's ongoing lawsuit against the
whole judgement. It is now protesting about the server protocol
lawsuit brought by the company in August.
Microsoft claims that allowing its server protocols to be used
in open-source projects would violate its intellectual property,
but the FSFE said the technology that Microsoft is trying to
protect had little value.
While the FSFE admitted that open-source use could lead to some
Microsoft trade secrets being revealed, it said a blanket ban on
open-source use was wrong and each component had to be studied
separately.
Companies like Samba, which makes open-source file and print
software, are set to benefit from the European Commission’s server
protocol order, as it will find it easier to update its products
for its customers in mixed server operating system
environments.
The European Commission is still deciding what access-licence
royalties will be payable to Microsoft for the server protocols in
question.