Kroes says EU has not received full details from Microsoft

The European Union’s antitrust chief Neelie Kroes said today she had not yet received all information on Microsoft’s offer to share software codes and comply with a 2004 EU antitrust ruling.

She also told European politicians that the software giant could not charge fees for the server protocol and communication codes if it could not prove that the code was innovative.

“If no such innovation … no remuneration can be charged by Microsoft,” she said.

Microsoft Corp. has until February 15 to reply to the formal charge sheet the Commission sent in December over providing complete and accurate information on interoperability of its software codes.

“We have not yet received full details from Microsoft,” Kroes told a parliamentary committee.

Microsoft offered last week to let competitors examine some of the blueprints to its flagship Windows operating system in response to a European Union antitrust ruling calling for greater openness.

Kroes said the first she heard of the offer by the US company was via a Microsoft press release.

The technical information is important for competitors to make their software compatible with Windows servers.

Although Microsoft insists it had already complied in December by supplying the documentation and offering rivals 500 hours, or about €82,662 worth, of free technical support apiece, it says it will license the Windows source code – which it says is the “ultimate documentation” – to address any lingering concerns that EU and US regulatory officials may have.

EU officials and an independent monitor held talks yesterday at Microsoft Corp.’s US headquarters to discuss the documentation the software company has so far supplied to comply with the EU antitrust ruling.