[Discussioni] [bhenrion a ffii.org: [ffii] EU tells open source to start paying MS patent tax]

[Alberto Cammozzo]

	Come anticipava Simo, il fatto che MS possa usare i brevetti
depositati presso EPO trasforma una vittoria temporanea in una
durevole sconfitta. 


	L'analisi di FFII:



----- Forwarded message from Benjamin Henrion <bhenrion a ffii.org> -----

From: Benjamin Henrion <bhenrion a ffii.org>
To: news a ffii.org
Subject: [ffii] EU tells open source to start paying MS patent tax

FFII PRESS RELEASE -- [ Europe / Economy / Innovation ]

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EU tells open source to start paying MS patent tax
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Brussels, 23 October 2007 ??? EU Commissioner Kroes' deal with Microsoft
creates real dangers to Europe's growing open source economy, warns the
FFII. Using patent licenses that exclude businesses, the software
monopolist has turned the EU competition ruling into a victory, and now
gets implicit support from the Commission to proceed aggressively
against its competitors.

Neelie Kroes European Commissioner for Competition and Microsoft agreed
that the royalties payable for the interoperability information will be
10,000 Euros, and that Microsoft can use its EPO software patents to
charge 0.4 percent of all the sales of its competitors. The FFII says
that these conditions effectively exclude open source competitors and
add costs for all who wish to communicate with Microsoft products. This
is a new transaction cost for all society, its the opposite of an open
Internet.

"We assume that the Commission wanted a paper victory after all this
delay," says Pieter Hintjens, president of FFII. "The guilty party
agrees not to appeal, takes the slap on the wrist and promises to
behave. And the Commission gets good press. But who pays? Who is the
patsy? It is European industry, which increasingly depends on free and
open source software."

Benjamin Henrion, FFII representative in Brussels, agrees that this deal
is a big win for Microsoft: "The Commission does not understand how open
source works. It naively accepted Redmond's assurances that they will
play fair. It is a sham. They have planned for years to control the open
source economy through software patents. This scheme now moves ahead,
thanks to the Commission's haste to make a quick deal." Henrion
concludes, "Kroes has ensured that EPO software patents - which the EU
rejected in 2005 - will now strengthen the monopolist's grip for years
to come."

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Background information
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The European Patent Office (EPO) continues to grant software patents and
business method patents in violation of the European Patent Convention
by applying its own interpretation and "case law", outside of any EU
legal framework. The EU rejected in 2005 a proposal to legitimize the
EPO's case law.

Microsoft recently published its MCPP (Microsoft Communications Protocol
Program) patent license which requires competitors to pay royalties for
each copy of software distributed. For example, a free software project
making a print server would have to pay USD 8 to Microsoft for each copy
downloaded.

Reuters reported that "Commercial developers such as IBM or Red Hat must
pay a license fee of 0.4 percent of revenues to Microsoft when they
redistribute that software, to protect against patent challenges."

Commissioner Kroes has said, of the deal, "That percentage royalty has
become a nominal, one-off payment of Euro 10,000. This is all that has
to be paid by companies that dispute the validity or relevance of
Microsoft's patents".

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Links
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* Press conference by Neelie Kroes, European Commissioner for Competition
  Policy

http://www.europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/07/647

* Reuters: Microsoft finally bows to EU antitrust measures

http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKKIM25281920071022

* DigitalMajority: Microsoft finally defeats EU competition ruling with
  patents

http://www.digitalmajority.org/forum/t-24002/microsoft-finally-defeats-eu-competition-ruling-with-patents

* FFII: Microsoft will trump EU competition ruling with patents

http://press.ffii.org/Press_releases/Microsoft_will_trump_EU_competition_ruling_with_patents

* Permanent link to this press release

http://press.ffii.org/Press_releases/EU_tells_open_source_to_start_paying_MS_patent_tax

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Contact
========================================================================

Benjamin Henrion
FFII Brussels
+32-2-414 84 03
+32-484-566109
bhenrion a ffii.org
(French/English)

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About the FFII
========================================================================

The FFII is a not-for-profit association active in over fifty countries,
dedicated to the development of information goods for the public benefit,
based on copyright, free competition, and open standards. More than 850
members, 3,500 companies and 100,000 supporters have entrusted the FFII
to act as their voice in public policy questions concerning exclusion
rights (intellectual property) in data processing.