It would be tempting for Europeans
to gloat over the recent defeat of
Microsoft after its nine-year battle
with EU Antitrust Regulators. But
rather than see this as an EU victory
over a U.S. corporate giant, a more
accurate and long-term perspective
is to consider this a victory for the
electronics business in general.
At the very root of this protracted
battle lay the whole question of
interoperability. In this case, rival
companies can write server software
that works with PCs using the
Windows operating system.
Specifically, the U.S. software
colossus agreed with the European
Commission that developers of
open-source software will have
improved access to information
regarding interoperability with its
networking protocols. Secondly, the
royalties for this information will be
reduced to a nominal one-off payment
of €10,000. Thirdly, the royalties
for a worldwide license,
which would include patents, will
be cut to 0.4% from 5.95%. On
top of that, to make sure that
Microsoft sticks to the agreement, it
can be legally enforced by the
High Court of London.
So why is it a good deal for the
electronics industry as a whole?
Simply put, this product openness
means that rival software companies
can compete in the PC market
and ultimately achieve profits
because businesses and consumers
will have a greater choice of software
options to purchase. It could
also limit the extent to which
Microsoft creates future software
that leads to greater dominance
and control of the Internet.
And let’s be brutally frank here,
the thought that software companies
or telecomm providers, could end
up controlling or manipulating the
way the Internet is enjoyed by
everyone is totally unacceptable—
particularly since any such corporate
ambitions would be profit
rather than service driven.
Back to product openness. This
always stimulates diverse product
generation, and such an atmosphere
ultimately drives industries forward.
It’s well documented that monopolies
and protectionism are the ultimate
enemy of technological progress.
Does this defeat of Microsoft
mean that many of us will be tempted
to Samba? No, not a celebratory
contortion on the dance floor.
Rather, this is a dance with your
computer keyboard.
And for those who are wondering
what on Earth I’m talking about, it is
Samba software. It can be run on
UNIX, Linux, IBM System 390,
OpenVMS, and other operating systems.
Basically, it uses the TCP/IP
protocol installed on the host server,
enabling that server to interact with
a Windows client or server.
Now that’s an interoperability barrier
breaker.
