Microsoft source code disclosure fails to please Commission 

In a speech held in Brussels on 25 January 2006, one day ahead of a deadline set by the Commission on 22 December 2005, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith said the software maker was going to "also license the Windows source code itself", adding: "What we’re obligated to license, under the European Commission’s decision, is specifications, documents that describe how those protocols work. We’re not obligated to license their source code. But one thing is perfectly clear, if you want to understand these communications protocols, the source code is the ultimate documentation."

To this, Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes answered in an interview with the Reuters news agency: "Normally speaking, the source code is not the ultimate documentation of anything, which is precisely the reason why programmers are required to provide comprehensive documentation to go along with their source code." 

The Commission says all that it has received so far is a formal letter sent by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to Commissioner Neelie Kroes ten minutes prior to the 25 January 2006 Press Conference and the press release. Immediately following Microsoft's announcement, the Commission clarified that it did not regard this as a sufficient reply to the statement of objections it had sent to Microsoft on 21 December 2005. 

"The onus is on Microsoft to convince us that they are compliant with the March 2004 decision," Ms. Kroes's spokesman Jonathan Todd told EurActiv on 27 January 2006, adding: "If they want us to take this into account to avoid a fine, they will have to provide us, in due time, with all the relevant information. It is far from being clear that by releasing part of their source code they would meet the requirements." The Commission could impose a daily fine of up to 2 million euro if it finds that Microsoft does not comply with the requirements of the March 2004 ruling.