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Microsoft Open Specification Promise

May 21, 2023

The Microsoft Open Specification Promise (or OSP) is a promise by Microsoft, published in September 2006, to not assert its patents, in certain conditions, against implementations of a certain list of specifications.[1]

The OSP is not a licence, but rather a covenant not to sue.[2] It promises protection but does not grant any rights.

The OSP is limited to implementations to the extent that they conform to those specifications. This allows for conformance to be partial. So if an implementation follows the specification for some aspects, and deviates in other aspects, then the Covenant Not to Sue applies only to the implementation's aspects which follow the specification.[3]

Relations with free software / open source projects

The protections granted by the OSP are independent to the licence of implementations. There is disagreement as to whether the conditions of the OSP can be fulfilled by free software / open source projects, and whether they thus gain any protection from the OSP.

An article in Cover Pages quotes Lawrence Rosen, an attorney and lecturer at Stanford Law School, as saying,

"I'm pleased that this OSP is compatible with free and open-source licenses."[4]

Linux vendor Red Hat's stance, as communicated by lawyer Mark Webbink in 2006, is:

"Red Hat believes that the text of the OSP gives sufficient flexibility to implement the listed specifications in software licensed under free and open-source licenses. We commend Microsoft’s efforts to reach out to representatives from the open source community and solicit their feedback on this text, and Microsoft's willingness to make modifications in response to our comments."[5][6]

Standards lawyer Andy Updegrove said in 2006 the Open Specification Promise was

"what I consider to be a highly desirable tool for facilitating the implementation of open standards, in particular where those standards are of interest to the open source community."[7]

However, the Software Freedom Law Center, a law firm for free software and open source software, has warned of problems with the OSP for use in free software / open source software projects. In a published analysis of the promise it states that[8]

"...it permits implementation under free software licenses so long as the resulting code isn't used freely."[9]

Their analysis warned of a possible inconsistency with GPL.[9] This applies specifically to the patent promise scope being limited to conforming implementations of covered specifications only.

Effectively when an implementer owns a patent and builds that patent technology in GPL3 licensed code, the implementer grants those first party patent rights downline to all re-users of that code.[10] When the code is reused, the OSP only applies as long as the reuse of that code is limited to implementing the covered specifications.

Other patent promises with similar limitations include IBM's Interoperability Specifications Pledge (ISP) and Sun Microsystems' OpenDocument Patent Statement. This means, for example, that use of the required Sun patented StarOffice-related technology for OpenDocument should be protected by the Sun Covenant, but reuse of the code with the patented technology for non-OpenDocument implementations is no longer protected by the related Sun covenant.

For this reason the SFLC has stated:

"The OSP cannot be relied upon by GPL developers for their implementations not because its provisions conflict with GPL, but because it does not provide the freedom that the GPL requires."[9]

The SFLC specifically point out:

  • new versions of listed specifications could be issued at any time by Microsoft, and be excluded from the OSP.
  • any code resulting from an implementation of one of the covered specifications could not safely be used outside the very limited field of use defined by Microsoft in the OSP.[9]

The Microsoft OSP itself mentions the GPL in two of its FAQs. In one it says,

"we can’t give anyone a legal opinion about how our language relates to the GPL or other OSS licenses".

In another, it specifically only mentions the "developers, distributors, and users of Covered Implementations", so excluding downstream developers, distributors, and users of code later derived from these "Covered Implementations"[9] and it specifically does not mention which version of the GPL is addressed, leading some commentators to conclude that the current GPLv3 may be excluded.[11]

Q: I am a developer/distributor/user of software that is licensed under the GPL, does the Open Specification Promise apply to me?
A: Absolutely, yes. The OSP applies to developers, distributors, and users of Covered Implementations without regard to the development model that created such implementations, or the type of copyright licenses under which they are distributed, or the business model of distributors/implementers. The OSP provides the assurance that Microsoft will not assert its Necessary Claims against anyone who make, use, sell, offer for sale, import, or distribute any Covered Implementation under any type of development or distribution model, including the GPL.[12]

Licensed technologies

Technologies on which the Open Specification Promise applies are:[1][13]

Web Services

Web

Virtualization Specifications

Security

  • RFC 4406 – Sender ID: Authenticating E-Mail
  • RFC 4408 – Sender Policy Framework: Authorizing Use of Domains in “Mail From”
  • RFC 4407 – Purported Responsible Address in E-Mail Messages
  • RFC 4405 – SMTP Service Extension for Indicating the Responsible Submitter of an E-Mail Message
  • RFC 7208 – Sender Policy Framework (SPF) for Authorizing Use of Domains in Email[15]
  • U-Prove Cryptographic Specification V1.0
  • U-Prove Technology Integration into the Identity Metasystem V1.0

Office file formats

XML file formats

  • Office 2003 XML Reference Schemas
  • Office Open XML 1.0 – Ecma-376
  • Office Open XML ISO/IEC 29500:2008
  • OpenDocument Format for Office Applications v1.0 OASIS
  • OpenDocument Format for Office Applications v1.0 ISO/IEC 26300:2006
  • OpenDocument Format for Office Applications v1.1 OASIS

Binary file formats

  • Word 97-2007 Binary File Format (.doc) Specification
  • PowerPoint 97-2007 Binary File Format (.ppt) Specification
  • Excel 97-2007 Binary File Format (.xls) Specification
  • Excel 2007 Binary File Format (.xlsb) Specification
  • Office Drawing 97-2007 Binary Format Specification
Structure specifications
  • [MS-DOC]: Word Binary File Format (.doc) Structure Specification
  • [MS-PPT]: PowerPoint Binary File Format (.ppt) Structure Specification
  • [MS-XLS]: Excel Binary File Format (.xls) Structure Specification
  • [MS-XLSB]: Excel Binary File Format (.xlsb) Structure Specification
  • [MS-ODRAW]: Office Drawing Binary File Format Structure Specification
  • [MS-CTDOC]: Word Custom Toolbar Binary File Format Structure Specification
  • [MS-CTXLS]: Excel Custom Toolbar Binary File Format Structure Specification
  • [MS-OFORMS]: Office Forms Binary File Format Structure Specification
  • [MS-OGRAPH]: Office Graph Binary File Format Structure Specification
  • [MS-OSHARED]: Office Common Data Types and Objects Structure Specification
  • [MS-OVBA]: Office VBA File Format Structure Specification
  • [MS-OFFCRYPTO]: Office Document Cryptography Structure Specification

Windows compound formats

  • [MS-CFB] Windows Compound Binary File Format Specification

Graphics formats

Microsoft computer languages

  • [MS-XAML]: XAML Object Mapping Specification 2006 (Draft v0.1)
  • [MS-XAML]: XAML Object Mapping Specification 2006 (v1.0)
  • [MS-WPFXV]: WPF XAML Vocabulary Specification 2006 (Draft v0.1)
  • [MS-WPFXV]: WPF XAML Vocabulary Specification 2006 (v1.0)
  • [MS-SLXV]: Silverlight XAML Vocabulary Specification 2008 (Draft v0.9)

Robotics

  • Decentralized Software Services Protocol – DSSP/1.0

Synchronization

Windows Rally Technologies

Published protocols

In Microsoft's list of covered protocols there are many third-party protocols which Microsoft did not create but for which they imply they have patents which are necessary for implementation[citation needed]:

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Microsoft Open Specification Promise". Microsoft. Retrieved 2007-11-02.
  2. ^ "Microsoft's Open Specification Promise Eases Web Services Patent Concerns". Retrieved 2015-04-18.
  3. ^ Richard Wilder (Associate General Counsel for Intellectual Property Policy at Microsoft) (2008-07-25). "The OSP and You". Port 25 (Microsoft's open source portal). Retrieved 2008-07-25. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  4. ^ "Microsoft's Open Specification Promise Eases Web Services Patent Concerns". xml.coverpages.org. 2006-09-12.
  5. ^ "Microsoft Open Specification Promise". Microsoft.
  6. ^ "Microsoft promises to hang patent fire over web services". 2006-09-12.
  7. ^ Peter Galli (2006-09-12). "Microsoft Promises Not to Sue over Web Services Specs".
  8. ^ "Software Freedom Law Center Publishes Analysis of Microsoft's Open Specification Promise". Software Freedom Law Center. March 12, 2008.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Microsoft's Open Specification Promise: No Assurance for GPL". Software Freedom Law Center. 2008-03-12. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
  10. ^ "GNU General Public License (Version 3, 29 June 2007)". Free Software Foundation. 2008-02-12. See section 11 for patents.
  11. ^ Bilodeau, J-F (March 19, 2008). . Archived from the original on February 27, 2010. Retrieved 2009-09-16. Use the GNU GPL 3: Most free software is released under the GNU GPL 2 or 3, which is incompatible with Microsoft's OSP (Open Specification Promise) and the Ms-PL (Microsoft Public License). This is not an accident. Microsoft does not want software written using their technology to spread to other platform. Again, it's vendor lock-in. If Microsoft truly wanted to work with the Open Source community, they should abandon the OSP and the Ms-PL for the GPL, or another OSI certified license.
  12. ^ Microsoft Open Specification Promise - Frequently Asked Questions
  13. ^ Microsoft Office Binary (doc, xls, ppt) File Formats April 30, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Hypervisor Functional Specification
  15. ^ "[MS-DEVCENTLP]: Open Specifications Dev Center". www.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2014-05-08.

External links

  • Open Specification Promise — Microsoft page describing the OSP and listing the specifications covered by it.
  • Analysis of OSP by standards lawyer Andy Updegrove
  • Analysis of OSP by Software Freedom Law Center. Rebuttal by Gray Knowlton, group product manager for Microsoft Office.
  • MSDN Library: Open Specifications — Documentation for the covered specifications.

May 21, 2023
microsoft, open, specification, promise, promise, microsoft, published, september, 2006, assert, patents, certain, conditions, against, implementations, certain, list, specifications, licence, rather, covenant, promises, protection, does, grant, rights, limite. The Microsoft Open Specification Promise or OSP is a promise by Microsoft published in September 2006 to not assert its patents in certain conditions against implementations of a certain list of specifications 1 The OSP is not a licence but rather a covenant not to sue 2 It promises protection but does not grant any rights The OSP is limited to implementations to the extent that they conform to those specifications This allows for conformance to be partial So if an implementation follows the specification for some aspects and deviates in other aspects then the Covenant Not to Sue applies only to the implementation s aspects which follow the specification 3 Contents 1 Relations with free software open source projects 2 Licensed technologies 2 1 Web Services 2 2 Web 2 3 Virtualization Specifications 2 4 Security 2 5 Office file formats 2 5 1 XML file formats 2 5 2 Binary file formats 2 5 2 1 Structure specifications 2 6 Windows compound formats 2 7 Graphics formats 2 8 Microsoft computer languages 2 9 Robotics 2 10 Synchronization 2 11 Windows Rally Technologies 2 12 Published protocols 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksRelations with free software open source projects EditThe protections granted by the OSP are independent to the licence of implementations There is disagreement as to whether the conditions of the OSP can be fulfilled by free software open source projects and whether they thus gain any protection from the OSP An article in Cover Pages quotes Lawrence Rosen an attorney and lecturer at Stanford Law School as saying I m pleased that this OSP is compatible with free and open source licenses 4 Linux vendor Red Hat s stance as communicated by lawyer Mark Webbink in 2006 is Red Hat believes that the text of the OSP gives sufficient flexibility to implement the listed specifications in software licensed under free and open source licenses We commend Microsoft s efforts to reach out to representatives from the open source community and solicit their feedback on this text and Microsoft s willingness to make modifications in response to our comments 5 6 Standards lawyer Andy Updegrove said in 2006 the Open Specification Promise was what I consider to be a highly desirable tool for facilitating the implementation of open standards in particular where those standards are of interest to the open source community 7 However the Software Freedom Law Center a law firm for free software and open source software has warned of problems with the OSP for use in free software open source software projects In a published analysis of the promise it states that 8 it permits implementation under free software licenses so long as the resulting code isn t used freely 9 Their analysis warned of a possible inconsistency with GPL 9 This applies specifically to the patent promise scope being limited to conforming implementations of covered specifications only Effectively when an implementer owns a patent and builds that patent technology in GPL3 licensed code the implementer grants those first party patent rights downline to all re users of that code 10 When the code is reused the OSP only applies as long as the reuse of that code is limited to implementing the covered specifications Other patent promises with similar limitations include IBM s Interoperability Specifications Pledge ISP and Sun Microsystems OpenDocument Patent Statement This means for example that use of the required Sun patented StarOffice related technology for OpenDocument should be protected by the Sun Covenant but reuse of the code with the patented technology for non OpenDocument implementations is no longer protected by the related Sun covenant For this reason the SFLC has stated The OSP cannot be relied upon by GPL developers for their implementations not because its provisions conflict with GPL but because it does not provide the freedom that the GPL requires 9 The SFLC specifically point out new versions of listed specifications could be issued at any time by Microsoft and be excluded from the OSP any code resulting from an implementation of one of the covered specifications could not safely be used outside the very limited field of use defined by Microsoft in the OSP 9 The Microsoft OSP itself mentions the GPL in two of its FAQs In one it says we can t give anyone a legal opinion about how our language relates to the GPL or other OSS licenses In another it specifically only mentions the developers distributors and users of Covered Implementations so excluding downstream developers distributors and users of code later derived from these Covered Implementations 9 and it specifically does not mention which version of the GPL is addressed leading some commentators to conclude that the current GPLv3 may be excluded 11 Q I am a developer distributor user of software that is licensed under the GPL does the Open Specification Promise apply to me A Absolutely yes The OSP applies to developers distributors and users of Covered Implementations without regard to the development model that created such implementations or the type of copyright licenses under which they are distributed or the business model of distributors implementers The OSP provides the assurance that Microsoft will not assert its Necessary Claims against anyone who make use sell offer for sale import or distribute any Covered Implementation under any type of development or distribution model including the GPL 12 Licensed technologies EditTechnologies on which the Open Specification Promise applies are 1 13 Web Services Edit Devices Profile for Web Services DPWS Identity Selector Interoperability Profile v1 0 Identity Selector Interoperability Profile v1 5 Open Data Protocol OData Remote Shell Web Services Protocol SOAP SOAP 1 1 Binding for MTOM 1 0 SOAP MTOM XOP SOAP over UDP Web Single Sign On Interoperability Profile Web Single Sign On Metadata Exchange Protocol WS Addressing WS Addressing End Point References and Identity WS AtomicTransaction WS BusinessActivity WS Coordination WS Discovery WSDL WSDL 1 1 Binding Extension for SOAP 1 2 WS Enumeration WS Eventing WS Federation WS Federation Active Requestor Profile WS Federation Passive Requestor Profile WS I Basic Profile WS Management WS Management Catalog WS MetadataExchange WS Policy WS PolicyAttachment WS ReliableMessaging WS RM Policy WS SecureConversation WS Security Kerberos Binding WS Security Kerberos Token Profile WS Security Rights Expression Language REL Token Profile WS Security SAML Token profile WS Security SOAP Message Security WS Security UsernameToken Profile WS Security X 509 Certificate Token Profile WS SecurityPolicy WS Transfer WS Trust Web Edit OpenService Format Specification a o Accelerator Web Slice Format Specification introduced with Internet Explorer 8 XML Search Suggestions Format SpecificationVirtualization Specifications Edit Virtual Hard Disk VHD Image Format Specification Microsoft Application Virtualization File Format Specification v1 Hyper V Functional Specification 14 Security Edit RFC 4406 Sender ID Authenticating E Mail RFC 4408 Sender Policy Framework Authorizing Use of Domains in Mail From RFC 4407 Purported Responsible Address in E Mail Messages RFC 4405 SMTP Service Extension for Indicating the Responsible Submitter of an E Mail Message RFC 7208 Sender Policy Framework SPF for Authorizing Use of Domains in Email 15 U Prove Cryptographic Specification V1 0 U Prove Technology Integration into the Identity Metasystem V1 0Office file formats Edit XML file formats Edit Office 2003 XML Reference Schemas Office Open XML 1 0 Ecma 376 Office Open XML ISO IEC 29500 2008 OpenDocument Format for Office Applications v1 0 OASIS OpenDocument Format for Office Applications v1 0 ISO IEC 26300 2006 OpenDocument Format for Office Applications v1 1 OASISBinary file formats Edit Word 97 2007 Binary File Format doc Specification PowerPoint 97 2007 Binary File Format ppt Specification Excel 97 2007 Binary File Format xls Specification Excel 2007 Binary File Format xlsb Specification Office Drawing 97 2007 Binary Format SpecificationStructure specifications Edit MS DOC Word Binary File Format doc Structure Specification MS PPT PowerPoint Binary File Format ppt Structure Specification MS XLS Excel Binary File Format xls Structure Specification MS XLSB Excel Binary File Format xlsb Structure Specification MS ODRAW Office Drawing Binary File Format Structure Specification MS CTDOC Word Custom Toolbar Binary File Format Structure Specification MS CTXLS Excel Custom Toolbar Binary File Format Structure Specification MS OFORMS Office Forms Binary File Format Structure Specification MS OGRAPH Office Graph Binary File Format Structure Specification MS OSHARED Office Common Data Types and Objects Structure Specification MS OVBA Office VBA File Format Structure Specification MS OFFCRYPTO Office Document Cryptography Structure SpecificationWindows compound formats Edit MS CFB Windows Compound Binary File Format SpecificationGraphics formats Edit Windows Metafile Format wmf Specification Ink Serialized Format ISF Specification JPEG XR jxr FormatMicrosoft computer languages Edit MS XAML XAML Object Mapping Specification 2006 Draft v0 1 MS XAML XAML Object Mapping Specification 2006 v1 0 MS WPFXV WPF XAML Vocabulary Specification 2006 Draft v0 1 MS WPFXV WPF XAML Vocabulary Specification 2006 v1 0 MS SLXV Silverlight XAML Vocabulary Specification 2008 Draft v0 9 Robotics Edit Decentralized Software Services Protocol DSSP 1 0Synchronization Edit FeedSync v1 0 v1 0 1Windows Rally Technologies Edit Windows Connect Now UFD and Windows Vista Windows Connect Now UFD for Windows XPPublished protocols Edit In Microsoft s list of covered protocols there are many third party protocols which Microsoft did not create but for which they imply they have patents which are necessary for implementation citation needed AppleTalk MC BUP Background Intelligent Transfer Service BITS Upload Protocol Specification MC CCFG Server Cluster Configuration ClusCfg Protocol Specification MC COMQC Component Object Model Plus COM Queued Components Protocol Specification MC FPSEWM FrontPage Server Extensions Website Management Specification MC SMP Session Multiplex Protocol Specification MC SQLR SQL Server Resolution Protocol Specification 1394 Serial Bus Protocol 2 IBM NetBIOS Extended User Interface NetBEUI v 3 0 IEC 61883 1 IEEE 1284 Interface Parallel IEEE 802 1x 2004 Infrared Data Association IrDA Published Standards Intel Preboot Execution Environment PXE Novell Internetwork Packet Exchange IPX Novell Sequenced Packet Exchange SPX Novell Service Advertising Protocol SAP RFC 1001 and RFC 1002 NetBIOS over TCP NETBT RFC 1055 Serial Line Internet Protocol SLIP RFC 1058 RFC 1723 and RFC 2453 Routing Information Protocol 1 0 2 0 RIP RFC 1112 RFC 2236 and RFC 3376 Internet Group Management Protocol IGMP v1 v2 and v3 RFC 1155 RFC 1157 RFC 1213 RFC 1289 RFC 1901 RFC 1902 RFC 1903 RFC 1904 RFC 1905 RFC 1906 RFC 1907 and RFC 1908 Simple Network Management Protocol v2 SNMP RFC 1179 Line Printer Daemon LPD RFC 1191 RFC 1323 RFC 2018 and RFC 2581 TCP IP Extensions RFC 1256 ICMP Router Discovery Messages RFC 1258 and RFC 1282 Remote LOGIN rlogin RFC 1332 and RFC 1877 Internet Protocol Control Protocol IPCP RFC 1334 Password Authentication Protocol PAP RFC 1393 Traceroute RFC 1436 Internet Gopher RFC 1483 RFC 1755 and RFC 2225 Internet Protocol over Asynchronous Transfer Mode IP over ATM RFC 1510 and RFC 1964 Kerberos Network Authentication Service v5 RFC 1552 PPP Internetwork Packet Exchange Control Protocol IPXCP RFC 1661 Point to Point Protocol PPP RFC 1739 Section 2 2 Packet Internet Groper ping RFC 1889 and RFC 3550 Real Time Transport Protocol RTP RFC 1939 and RFC 1734 Post Office Protocol v3 POP3 RFC 1962 Compression Control Protocol CCP RFC 1990 Multilink Protocol MP RFC 1994 MD5 Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol MD5 CHAP RFC 2097 NetBIOS Frames Control Protocol NBFCP RFC 2118 Microsoft Point to Point Compression MPPC RFC 2125 Bandwidth Allocation Protocol BAP RFC 2131 RFC 2132 and RFC 3361 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol DHCP RFC 2205 RFC 2209 and RFC 2210 Resource Reservation Setup RSVP RFC 2222 Simple Authentication and Security Layer SASL RFC 2225 Asynchronous Transfer Mode Server Message Block Sun Microsystems Remote Procedure Call SunRPC T 120 Tabular Data Stream TDS v7 1 7 2 7 3 Universal Plug and Play UPnP Universal Serial Bus USB Revision 2 0See also EditMicrosoft Glossary of patent law termsReferences Edit a b Microsoft Open Specification Promise Microsoft Retrieved 2007 11 02 Microsoft s Open Specification Promise Eases Web Services Patent Concerns Retrieved 2015 04 18 Richard Wilder Associate General Counsel for Intellectual Property Policy at Microsoft 2008 07 25 The OSP and You Port 25 Microsoft s open source portal Retrieved 2008 07 25 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a author has generic name help Microsoft s Open Specification Promise Eases Web Services Patent Concerns xml coverpages org 2006 09 12 Microsoft Open Specification Promise Microsoft Microsoft promises to hang patent fire over web services 2006 09 12 Peter Galli 2006 09 12 Microsoft Promises Not to Sue over Web Services Specs Software Freedom Law Center Publishes Analysis of Microsoft s Open Specification Promise Software Freedom Law Center March 12 2008 a b c d e Microsoft s Open Specification Promise No Assurance for GPL Software Freedom Law Center 2008 03 12 Retrieved 2008 03 30 GNU General Public License Version 3 29 June 2007 Free Software Foundation 2008 02 12 See section 11 for patents Bilodeau J F March 19 2008 Three Things Microsoft Should Do Archived from the original on February 27 2010 Retrieved 2009 09 16 Use the GNU GPL 3 Most free software is released under the GNU GPL 2 or 3 which is incompatible with Microsoft s OSP Open Specification Promise and the Ms PL Microsoft Public License This is not an accident Microsoft does not want software written using their technology to spread to other platform Again it s vendor lock in If Microsoft truly wanted to work with the Open Source community they should abandon the OSP and the Ms PL for the GPL or another OSI certified license Microsoft Open Specification Promise Frequently Asked Questions Microsoft Office Binary doc xls ppt File Formats Archived April 30 2008 at the Wayback Machine Hypervisor Functional Specification MS DEVCENTLP Open Specifications Dev Center www microsoft com Retrieved 2014 05 08 External links EditOpen Specification Promise Microsoft page describing the OSP and listing the specifications covered by it Analysis of OSP by standards lawyer Andy Updegrove Analysis of OSP by Software Freedom Law Center Rebuttal by Gray Knowlton group product manager for Microsoft Office MSDN Library Open Specifications Documentation for the covered specifications Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Microsoft Open Specification Promise amp oldid 1134517873, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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