When rumors first began to fill the air that an agreement of some sort between Microsoft and the EU Commission was imminent, Sean Daly interviewed Thomas Vinje and Ashwin van Rooijen, attorneys for ECIS, the European Committee for Interoperable Systems, which is an intervenor in the case. After the EU Commission announcement by Neelie Kroes that a draft agreement had been settled, involving a month-long market test, Sean asked if either had any reaction or additional comments to make in light of the events, and here is the response:

"We will use the upcoming month of market testing carefully to review whether the changes to the ballot screen in the new proposal will result in a real and unbiased choice of browsers, and whether the suggested review mechanism will be effective.
The revised interoperability settlement does not appear to deal with the inadequacies of Microsoft's standards compliance, unfair pricing practices or other concerns related to patent abuse or standards manipulation. It also relies heavily on private enforcement, where past experience has shown that scrutiny by public authorities is critical to ensure Microsoft's compliance with such promises."

Amen. There is plenty of sadness in the FOSS world at this missed opportunity with respects, especially. to standards. There is a month to express your views to the EU Commission, and then the curtain falls. FSFE has also released a statement today, saying Free Software is completely left out of this agreement, left out in the cold. I would characterize it, personally, that the EU Commission is abdicating on standards and interoperability, perhaps not understanding the impact this deal will have on the FOSS world.

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