Microsoft has agreed to make “substantial changes”

After losing antitrust case in September, Microsoft agrees changes to comply with EU regulations. A Microsoft spokesman announced that the company will not appeal again the decision, ending thus the long legal battle.
In consequence, software developers will have permission to access and use the interoperability information, and the royalties for a worldwide license, including patents, will be reduced from 5.95 percent to 0.4 percent, according to Commission.
Georg Greve, president of the Free Software Foundation-Europe, a group that had challenged Microsoft’s practice of using confidential server protocols, said for New York Times:

This is a huge breakthrough, Microsoft is finally doing what the commission ordered it to do. This will level the playing field.

Considered as one of the biggest EU court trials ever, the verdict gives an interesting image about EU’s ability to challenge giant corporations, even from USA.