Free is not in Microsoft's vocabulary. At least not when it comes to copyright. And for once Microsoft is painting Google in not too flattering nuances. But will the Redmond Company manage to come on top of the mountain View search giant as far as managing copyrighted content is concerned? "There is one side that takes a unilateralist or "opt out" approach where the practice is to simply to "take" the works of others, without any regard for copyright or the impact of their actions on authors and publishers. Microsoft doesn't believe that is the right approach," commented Tom Rubin, an associate general counsel for Copyright, Trademark and Trade Secrets at Microsoft.

And while Google is ranking up millions on third-party copyrighted content without seeking their permission, Microsoft has a different strategy. And in this respect I can vouch from my own experience that Microsoft would not reproduce content without the express permission of the copyrights owner.

"We think that three simple principles can help the industry make the right choices. The first principle is that new services that expand online access to content should be encouraged. The second principle is that those new services must respect the legitimate interests of copyright holders; put conversely, we must forcefully reject any business model that is based on the systematic infringement of copyrights," Rubin added commenting that the third principle implies collaboration on building online access to copyrighted content.

The truth of the matter is that while Google has cut a few corners when it comes to copyrighted content, even allowing its delivery free of charge to the audience, Microsoft will only define a strategy that is synonymous with the monetization of protected materials in the benefit of the copyright owners.