Microsoft outlines plans to comply with DoJ settlement

Microsoft Corp said it plans to disclose nearly 400 APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) by August 28 in order to comply with a proposed antitrust settlement signed last year with the US Justice Department.

Speaking to reporters on a conference call, senior vice-president and general counsel Brad Smith said Microsoft will release some 385 codes on the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN), which will allow companies to write programmes to work with the Windows XP operating system.

The total includes some 272 internal interfaces and 113 communications protocols and will be available at no cost.

This and other measures announced in a telephone conference have not yet been approved by the US District Court or the lawyer for the nine states that refused to sign the November 2001 settlement.

Smith said Microsoft is withholding two protocols - a file protection API and the secure remote procedure protocol.

As part of its Communications Protocol Programme to be launched tomorrow, the 113 communications protocols will be licensed to third parties on a royalty per unit basis to allow inter-operability with Microsoft server operating system products.

But Smith said the pricing structure will not be made public saying: "We are confident the prices are reasonable. The value of the technology is substantial and the value of the property rights is significant."

Since August 1, Microsoft has introduced changes to Window licensing contracts with PC makers which make terms and conditions uniform rather than negotiating on each individual deal.

The new contracts will not last longer than one year and expand patent indemnification, warranty coverage provided, increase flexibility on billing, and the testing and recovery options, Smith said.

Microsoft is still on track to launch the Windows XP upgrade, SP1, this summer, within the November deadline set by the US government and state attorneys last year.

The Window XP upgrade will allow users and PC makers to add or remove access to certain Windows components or competing software, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Windows media-player, instant messenger, Microsoft virtual Java machine,and Microsoft Outlook Express.

Users and PC makers will also be able to choose competing products to replace Microsoft software.

Users will be able to select default programmes and choose which programmes are displayed on the Start Menu and other locations as a result of the changes to Windows 2000 SP3 and Windows XP SP1.

Windows 2000 SP3, which was shipped on August 1, is already available.

Smith said it is still too early to determine how these new measures will affect Microsoft and how useful they will be for software companies but denied that the move to license protocols is aimed to generating revenue.

"We're not looking at this as a revenue opportunity," he said.

Today's announcement follows the agreement last year between Microsoft and the US Justice Department to settle the four year-old antitrust dispute, which found the software company illegally maintained its operating system monopoly.

Only half of the 18 states that were suing the company alongside DoJ signed that deal, which cannot become law until US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly signs it.

The coalition of attorneys general from around the country that did not sign the deal are pushing for Kollar-Kotelly to throw it out and impose a stricter remedy.

Today's measures have not been approved by Kollar-Kotelly.

States that rejected the government's settlement with Microsoft and have continued to pursue the antitrust case are California, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Utah and West Virginia, along with the District of Columbia.