Microsoft open up Windows to third-party software

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 22 Apr 2003 at 12:22

Microsoft has agreed to make licensing its Windows protocol IP cheaper and easier.

Microsoft has said that changes will be made to the Microsoft Communications Protocol Program (MCPP) following negotiations with the US Depratment of Justice (DoJ), so that it is easier for companies to ensure their server software interacts properly with Windows software.

It will reduce the start up costs of entering the licensing program and make much of the information about the program publicly available, including sample license documents and brief summaries of each of the protocols. Previously, companies wishing to take up the program would have had to sign 'Non-disclosure agreements' in order to get hold of the information.

'These changes are designed to provide more readily available information to companies about our technologies, and make it easier and more attractive for those companies to license our technology,' says Smith. 'This is an unprecedented program and feedback we have received from government and industry have been very helpful. We feel these changes will be welcome improvements in our continuing effort to meet fully our obligations under the settlement and final judgment.'

The MCPP is a result of the antitrust settlement with the DoJ, and was launched in August 2002. However, some software companies had suggested that the cost of licensing the protocols was too expensive to be worth signing up for and that the non-dislosure agreements were far from reasonable.

Detailed arrangements have yet to be finalised, and for further information about the MCPP, email protocol@microsoft.com.