Brad Smith License Quotations

We have now come to the conclusion that the only way to be certain of satisfying the Commission's demands is to go beyond the 2004 Decision and offer a license to the source code of the Windows server operating system. The Windows source code is the ultimate documentation.

We're not obligated to license this source code. But one thing is perfectly clear. If you're not able to understand these protocols, the source code is the ultimate documentation. It is the DNA of the Windows server operating system.

To continue to foster consistency between both licensing programs, Microsoft has decided to make available for the desktop protocols the same reference license for source code it is offering for server protocols, and the company will provide competition authorities in the United States with information so they can consider the matter.

We are announcing today that we will ... license the Windows source code itself.

With today's announcement, Microsoft has supplemented the existing resources with a new license for all of the Windows Server source code that implements all of the communications protocols covered by the 2004 decision.