Microsoft Responds to EU With Another Question

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has responded to the latest round of EU requests by asking how much the EU thinks they should charge for Windows Server Protocols. The EU has stated the Microsoft should charge based on 'innovation, not patentability' and that they have 'examined 160 Microsoft claims to patented technologies' concluding 'only four may only deserve to claim a limited degree of innovation.' The EU is also starting to discuss structural remedies as opposed to the behavioral remedies they are currently enforcing. At what point has/will the EU overstepped its bounds?"

Comments

Re:Appropriate price? Zero Euros and redistributio

[brkello]

Um, how is that logical? So you create a cookie recipe and distribute it freely on the Internet and give all the cookies you make away for free. I have a cookie recipe but I keep it a secret and sell my cookies for a profit. Despite the fact that your cookies are free, more people want my cookies and are willing to pay for it. So you are saying the only fair thing to do is make it so that my cookies are free and that everyone should have my recipe.

Ok, so not a perfect analogy because we are talking about interoperability and I can't fit that in with cookies...but it is basically what you are saying. Having and using open standards is a big advantage to the consumer and to free software. But Microsoft is a business and what you are saying it should do is basically give up its recipes so that people can use its competitor. What business in its right mind would do this? Really, I understand both sides of this. But forcing MS to give its specs is a bad business move for them and I understand why they do what they do. Basically, they built themselves up to be dominant and now Free Software wants to interoperate with them so that they can gain more marketshare. How does that benefit MS?