To remove a roadblock that could delay implementation of some 38 Web service standards and its Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) image format, Microsoft is making an Open Specification Promise (OSP), which essentially states that if third parties implement the covered standards and comply with minimal conditions, Microsoft will not assert any "necessary claims" over its patents related to those standards. The move will reduce the legal risk for developers who want to support the latest Web services or Microsoft virtualization technologies. However, the OSP still contains confusing legal terms, and it does not address several major barriers to the widespread acceptance and use of the covered standards.

Web Service Standards

The OSP deals primarily with the WS-* protocol specifications, which were co-developed by Microsoft and a handful of key partners, such as BEA, IBM, and VeriSign. (The names of these specifications tend to begin with the prefix WS-, so they have collectively come to be called WS-*, sometimes pronounced "WS-star.") The WS-* protocols are designed to support integration of applications and systems across OSs and middleware platforms by addressing problems currently solved by proprietary systems, including the following:

• Application security, including access, authorization, and encryption
• Guaranteed delivery of messages between systems, even over unreliable network connections
• The ability to guarantee that transactions that span databases, even on different platforms, have completed successfully.

The covered protocols for Microsoft's OSP include 38 Web services standards, including the Simple Object Access Protocol, WS-Management, and the Web Single Sign-On Interoperability Profile.

The VHD Image Format

As a common virtualization file format, VHD captures the entire virtual machine OS and the application stack in a single file. Available since May 2005, VHD has been adopted by more than 60 vendors, including BMC Software, Brocade Communications Systems, Diskeeper, Fujitsu Siemens, Network Appliance, and XenSource. By standardizing on the Microsoft VHD format, migration of virtual machines can be easily accomplished on Microsoft Virtual Server, Virtual PC, and Windows Server virtualization with Windows Server "Longhorn."

VMware, a division of EMC, offers its own virtualization image file format and its virtualization technology is in widespread production in many organizations.

Non-Assertion Covenants

With the OSP, Microsoft joins other companies in offering non-assertion covenants (NACs) to promote a technology. A NAC essentially promises not to assert any patent claims against developers working to support a given set of standards. For example, Sun Microsystems created a NAC for its Web Single Sign-On Interoperability standard. Microsoft has previously offered a NAC for its Office 2003 XML Reference Schemas. In developing the OSP, Microsoft worked with a range of interested parties from open-source and legal communities.

The Microsoft OSP is a NAC covering its claims on the WS-* specifications. Microsoft had always offered to license these claims for free, but now it is making that commitment simpler and does not require developers to sign and return a license agreement, and Microsoft's OSP language and structure resembles the language and structure of other NACs.

Although Microsoft attempted to keep the legal language to a minimum, the OSP can still be confusing to those not trained in contract and patent law, as demonstrated in the first sentence: "Microsoft irrevocably promises not to assert any Microsoft Necessary Claims against you for making, using, selling, offering for sale, importing or distributing any implementation to the extent it conforms to a Covered Specification ('Covered Implementation')."

Other Barriers May Still Remain

Although the latest NAC from Microsoft may reduce the threat of patent litigation around the covered Web services specifications, it may not be sufficient to spur widespread and rapid adoption. Developer concerns that could still block the standards include the following:

• Vendors other than Microsoft might have patent claims that they will assert
• Not all of the specifications have been adopted by the appropriate standards boards and authorities
• The specifications were not always developed in real-world situations, so although they may be elegantly designed, there is no guarantee they will work as advertised in large-scale production environments
• Although Visual Studio supports the Windows Communication Framework, not all tools include the necessary design, development, and testing environments, including sample code that facilitates development of Web services based on the specifications.

Resources

Microsoft is combining its Open Specification Promise at its Interoperability site: www.microsoft.com/interop/default.mspx.

The Microsoft Open Specification Promise is posted at www.microsoft.com/interop/osp/default.mspx#EZE.

The covered specifications are listed at www.microsoft.com/interop/osp/default.mspx#EIB.

The Office 2003 XML Reference Schemas covenant is posted at www.microsoft.com/office/xml/covenant.mspx.

The Sun Microsystems Non-Assertion Covenant for Web Single Sign-On Interoperability is posted at developers.sun.com/techtopics/identity/interop/index.html.

Background on the Web Services can be found in "Web Services Specifications Inch Forward" on page 26 of the Nov. 2003 Update and page 17 of the June 2006 Developer Platform Roadmap.