Measuring Compliance with Compulsory Licensing Remedies in the American Microsoft Case

32 Pages Posted: 24 Jun 2008 Last revised: 14 May 2014

See all articles by William H. Page

William H. Page

University of Florida Levin College of Law

Seldon J. Childers

University of Florida - Levin College of Law

Date Written: June 22, 2008

Abstract

Section III.E of the final judgments in the American Microsoft case requires Microsoft to make available to software developers certain communications protocols that Windows client operating systems use to interoperate with Microsoft's server operating systems. This provision has been by far the most difficult and costly to implement, primarily because of questions about the quality of Microsoft's documentation of the protocols. The plaintiffs' technical experts, in testing the documentation, have found numerous issues, which they have asked Microsoft to resolve. Because of accumulation of unresolved issues, the parties agreed in 2006 to extend Section III.E for up to five more years. Microsoft's continuing failure to resolve the plaintiffs' issues, despite its commitment of enormous resources to the project, led the district judge in January 2008 to extend the other provisions in judgments for at least two years. Paradoxically, however, there is no evidence that software developers cannot use the protocols because of the issues generated in the plaintiffs' testing program. In this article, we argue that the court abandon the unresolved issues as its standard of compliance and ask instead whether Microsoft has provided documentation and technical support that meet the standards of the market and needs of real-world developers.

Suggested Citation

Page, William Hepburn and Childers, Seldon J., Measuring Compliance with Compulsory Licensing Remedies in the American Microsoft Case (June 22, 2008). Antitrust Law Journal, Vol. 76, p. 239, 2009, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1149862

William Hepburn Page (Contact Author)

University of Florida Levin College of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 117625
Gainesville, FL 32611-7625
United States

Seldon J. Childers

University of Florida - Levin College of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 117625
Gainesville, FL 32611-7625
United States

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