Microsoft announced on Thursday its first software licensing deal under a programme mandated by a 2004 European Commission anti-trust ruling.
The contract with California-based Quest Software came a week after commission officials accused Microsoft of setting prices too high for technology offered in the Work Group Server Protocol Program (WSPP).
”This agreement represents a significant milestone for the WSPP and demonstrates the momentum we are seeing in the industry around platform interoperability,” said Microsoft senior vice-president Bob Muglia.
European Union regulators on March 1 cranked up the pressure on Microsoft in their anti-trust battle, threatening millions of euros in daily fines if the Redmond, Washington, software giant failed to satisfy their concerns within a month.
The warning came as the European Commission found that Microsoft had not supplied satisfactory information at reasonable prices to its rivals to allow its Windows operating system to work smoothly with their products in line with the 2004 ruling.
The United States company has long clashed with the commission over the crushing market power of its existing Windows operating system and was fined a record €497-million in the landmark March 2004 ruling.
Microsoft said on Thursday the deal with Quest was proof that it was working to license its technology to other companies and that its pricing was based on the open market.
Quest is the first company to license protocols in the European programme.
The technology license by Quest helps networked business computers coordinate on accomplishing tasks. Quest will pay Microsoft 5,25% of the revenue generated by products incorporating the licensed technology, according to the companies.
”This agreement clearly shows that Quest believes the royalties are reasonable,” Microsoft said in a release.
Quest said it plans to use the technology in software that adds greater security and robustness to networks with Linux, Unix and Windows-based servers working together.
”The value of this agreement is that Quest is now better positioned than ever to implement truly interoperable solutions for customers that do not require them to support and maintain multiple islands of technologies and redundant processes,” said Quest president Doug Garn. — Sapa-AFP