EU to Force Microsoft to Give Windows Away for Free

Microsoft has learned over the past few years that Europe is a whole different ball-park, where it is only a guest. However, nothing has prepared Microsoft for what the EU has in store for Windows. Back in August 2007, Microsoft submitted a Protocol Pricing proposal to the European Commission. Six months later, the EU Commission issued a response under the form of a Statement of Objections that targeted the royalties Microsoft wanted to impose for its protocol technology licensing program over the pond.

While Microsoft argued that it had "been fair in setting proposed protocol prices" through the voice of Senior Vice President and General Counsel Brad Smith, the European Commission argued that the pricing did little to reflect the mediocre quality of innovation in Microsoft's protocol technology.

The latest events in the Microsoft EU face-off have been brought to light by a confidential document that has made its way to the Financial Times. According to the new data, the EU will force Microsoft to share the inner workings of its Windows platform with competitors for almost zero compensation.

In fact, the initial Statement of Objections from the EU Commission proposed that Microsoft should deliver its Windows protocol technology royalty free for the company's intellectual property that fails to meet the criteria of innovation and that cannot be patented.

The EU Commission has suggested that Microsoft lower the average royalty rate bellow 1 percent, and even as low as nothing despite the fact that the Redmond Company seeks a license fee up of to 5.95 percent. "We can only conclude on this basis that the Microsoft-proposed royalties are prohibitively high [...] and should be reduced in line with this analysis," revealed the Commission's technical expert, Prof Neil Barrett.