Microsoft = pledges openness as standards meeting looms

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, , ) = has=20 jealously guarded its intellectual property, while elbowing competitors = out of=20 the computer-software market. That's raised the ire of antitrust = officials,=20 particularly in Europe.

"Our goal is to promote greater interoperability, = opportunity and=20 choice for customers and developers throughout the industry by making = our=20 products more open and by sharing even more information about our = technologies,"=20 Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said in a statement.

'The proof of = this pudding=20 will be in the eating.'

=E2=80=94 Thomas Vinje,=20 attorney

The company said the changes are designed to comply with = a judgment=20 handed down last year by the European Court of First Instance, which = found that=20 Microsoft used its popular Windows operating system to push rivals out = of=20 related markets. See=20 related story.

More recently, Microsoft acknowledged earlier this month = that=20 European regulators had begun probing the manner in which it had lobbied = for its=20 Open XML format last year, prior to a vote by the International = Organization for=20 Standardization, or ISO, to have it declared an international standard. = Open XML=20 fell short in that vote, but will receive consideration again this year. = See=20 related story.

File formats essentially serve as containers for = preserving,=20 transferring and opening files, such as word-processing documents. ISO = delegates=20 in Geneva will begin on Feb. 25 to "to review and seek consensus on = possible=20 modifications" to Open XML ahead of a second vote, according to the ISO = Web=20 site.

Critics of Open XML have argued that it's designed to = function best=20 only with Microsoft products, potentially shutting rivals out of the = market for=20 PC software. Instead, many of these critics tout Open Document Format, = or ODF --=20 a file format they say will ensure compatibility with technology from a = wider=20 array of companies.

"I expect there it is no coincidence that this = announcement comes=20 just two business days ... before the Ballot Resolution Meeting convenes = in=20 Geneva next Monday" to discuss Open XML, said Andrew Updegrove, an = attorney with=20 Gesmer Updegrove LLP in Boston, who has closely followed the technology = issue.=20

But he added that he saw "a number of promises in the = announcement=20 that I like, including the commitment to publish a great deal of = material on the=20 Web, as well as the freedom that will be offered to developers to take = certain=20 actions without the necessity of first obtaining a license."

In a statement issued shortly after Microsoft's = announcement,=20 however, the European Commission sounded unimpressed. The commission = said that=20 while it welcomes "any move toward genuine interoperability," the news = "follows=20 at least four similar statements by Microsoft in the past on the = importance of=20 interoperability."

In October, when it conceded to the European court's = decision,=20 Microsoft had pledged to slash fees for accessing blueprints for its = technology,=20 while vowing not to assert its patents against open-source software = developers=20 making noncommercial use of the company's technology.

Microsoft had been fined nearly half a million euros in = 2004 and a=20 further 280.5 million euros ($401 million) in 2006 for noncompliance = with=20 commission directives on openness, and it faced the prospect of steep = new fines=20 for further noncompliance.

Thomas Vinje, an attorney representing the European = Committee for=20 Interoperable Systems, a group that includes Microsoft rivals such as = Sun=20 Microsystems Inc. (JAVA:

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, , ) = ,=20 commented that there is nothing new in Microsoft's most recent pledge. =

"The proof of this pudding will be in the eating," Vinje = said in a=20 statement Thursday. "The world needs a permanent change in Microsoft's = behavior,=20 not just another announcement."

John Rymer, an analyst with Forrester Research, said = Microsoft's=20 new announcement should be seen "as a step on an evolutionary path that = probably=20 started about four years ago," when the company began to seriously = ponder ways=20 that openness could translate into increased business opportunities. =

"This is just the latest step in a long evolutionary = process at=20 Microsoft, where it's coming to grips with the notion that it needs to = be a lot=20 more transparent," he added.

In that respect, Rymer said, the debate over Open XML is = only one=20 element of a broader push.

"It certainly doesn't hurt" that the announcement comes = shortly=20 before the Geneva meeting on Open XML, according to Rymer. But he said = that=20 "Open XML is one episode, and there are all sorts of issues that = Microsoft has=20 faced over the years and will continue to face as they go forward." 3D"End

John Letzing is a MarketWatch = reporter based in=20 San Francisco.
Benjamin Pimentel is a = MarketWatch reporter based in San = Francisco.

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	Microsoft=20 Corporation (MSFT= )
	International=20 Business Machines (IBM)<= /TD>
	Sun=20 Microsystems Inc (JAVA= )

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Microsoft pledges openness as standards meeting looms -=20 MarketWatch