Re: [Trad April] Re: [Trad April] Re: [Trad April] Re: Traduction en anglais du CP April sur Microsoft / Commission européenne

[Olivier Iffrig <oiffrig AT gmail.com>]

Le lundi 21 décembre 2009 à 14:05 +0100, Thibaut BOYER a écrit :
> Bonjour,
> 
> Après relecture, hormis une petite remarque sur la dernière phrase du
> septième paragraphe, je suis d'accord avec Noël.
> 
>         These licences which impose royalties for any commercial
>         distribution favor monopolies over SMEs and de facto excludes
>         all Free Software actors.
>  
> J'écrirais "license" au lieu de "licence" afin de rester cohérent avec
> les autres occurences de ce mot dans le texe.

En effet. Il y avait aussi un singulier au lieu d'un pluriel dans cette
phrase. À moins qu'un relecteur ait encore vu quelque chose à corriger,
ça me semble bon.

-- 
Olivier Iffrig
The European Commission announced on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 that it 
has accepted Microsoft's commitments to allow users to freely choose their 
web browser when installing Microsoft Windows [1]. This represents a step 
towards reducing the number of Microsoft's abuses of dominance, but the 
Commission has to keep going.

This announcement is supposed to end the several-year-conflict opposing the 
European Commission and Microsoft about the systematic integration of 
Internet Explorer in the Windows operating system.

Microsoft agreed with the European Commission to suggest to Microsoft Windows 
users a choice screen enabling them to easily choose their browser (among the 
twelve most popular browsers in Europe) [2].

The April congratulates the European Commission for its efforts towards 
limiting Microsoft's abuses of dominance. However, far beyond the browser 
issue, the Commission should tackle all of Microsoft's anti-competitive 
practises, especially the tying of PC hardware with software.

"This announcement is an interesting step which should enable users to freely 
choose their web browser" said Frédéric Couchet, April's general delegate. 
"Yet the underlying problem will only be solved by dealing with the almost 
systematic tying of Windows with new computers. As long as Microsoft preempts 
the market, there will be no room for competition nor for users' free choice."

Furthermore, the Commission indicates in its press release that Microsoft 
published a reviewed version of its proposals concerning the disclosure of 
interoperability-related information. Microsoft keeps brandishing its 
software patents, which makes interoperability dull. 

The documents clearly show that Microsoft keeps excluding the Free Software 
world from accessing its formats and protocols. Most of these protocols are 
indeed patented, and licensing agreements require so-called "reasonable and 
non-discriminatory" conditions (RAND). These licenses which impose royalties 
for any commercial distribution favor monopolies over SMEs and de facto 
excludes all Free Software actors.

The document "Annex E - Patent Pledge for Open Source Developers" [3] clearly 
states that any commercial distribution of Free Software will require a 
patent license in exchange for royalties. These conditions are however 
incompatible with Free Software licenses: free licenses do not make any 
difference between commercial and non-commercial uses, thus enabling both 
volunteer communities and companies to contribute the same project. 
Furthermore, patents on software formats and protocols have no legal basis in 
the European Union and rely on an unstable and moving basis in the USA; that 
is why they should never be claimed within interoperability agreements.

"As usual when Microsoft deals with interoperability, the devil is in the 
details. Microsoft is completely aware that it excludes Free Software 
developers from this interoperability agreement with its clause concerning 
commercial uses." said Benoît Sibaud, April's president.

The April calls on the European Commission to carry on its efforts against 
Microsoft's abuses of dominance. It urges the Commission to reject the new 
interoperability agreement proposed by the Redmond firm and to take charge of 
the tying of the Windows operating system with new computers issue in order 
to open the European market to competition, innovation and freedom. 


[1] See the European Commission's press release: Antitrust: Commission 
accepts Microsoft commitments to give users browser choice
[2] Antitrust: Commission accepts Microsoft commitments to give users browser 
choice - frequently asked questions
[3] See Microsoft Statement on European Commission Decision: "Microsoft 
irrevocably promises not to assert any Microsoft Necessary Claims against you 
as an open source software developer ("You") for making, using, importing, or 
distributing any implementation of the Technical Documentation ("Covered 
Implementation"), subject to the following. This is a personal promise 
directly from Microsoft to You, and You acknowledge it is a condition of 
benefiting from it that no Microsoft rights are received from suppliers, 
distributors, or otherwise by any other person in connection with this 
promise. To benefit from this promise, you must be a natural or legal person 
participating in the creation of software code for an open source project. An 
"open source project" is a software development project the resulting source 
code of which is freely distributed, modified, or copied pursuant to an open 
source license and is not commercially distributed by its participants. If 
You engage in the commercial distribution or importation of software derived 
from an open source project or if You make or use such software outside the 
scope of creating such software code, You do not benefit from this promise 
for such distribution or for these other activities."