Microsoft Offers to License some of its Source Codes.(Courtesy: MSNBC)


BRUSSELS, Belgium - Microsoft Corp. will license some of its secret software blueprints in an effort to avert fines of up to 2 million euros ($2.5 million) a day for failing to comply with European antitrust penalties, the U.S. company said on Wednesday.

“We are putting our most valuable intellectual property on the table, so we can put technical compliance issues to rest and move forward with a serious discussion about the substance of this case,” Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said.

The European Commission said in a response three hours later that it would “study carefully the announcement” by Microsoft. (MSNBC.com is a Microsoft - NBC joint venture.)
Microsoft’s offer to license a small amount of its source code, relating to server software that helps manage tasks like printing within a group of desktop machines, would help proprietary software makers but not the so-called “open source” community. More..