UPDATE: EC indicates Microsoft's source code licensing may not be enough

Brussels (Belgium) - Indicating that it might not accept Microsoft's move this morning as a genuine response to its December 2005 request for documentation about how Windows can be made interoperable, the European Commission released a statement this evening, GMT, stating it looks forward to Microsoft's actual response to its request.

The EC statement begins by saying it has not received the "full details" of Microsoft's move, which could mean that it's waiting to see - as are we all - just how much of the Windows source code will be made available for "reference license" through the company. The statement goes on to say, "The Commission is looking forward to receiving, no later than 15th February 2006, Microsoft's reply to the Statement of Objections sent by the Commission on 21st December 2005. The Commission sent the Statement of Objections because of Microsoft's failure to disclose complete and accurate interface documentation to allow non-Microsoft workgroup servers to achieve full interoperability with Windows PCs and servers, despite its obligation to do so under the terms of the Commission's March 2004 decision that Microsoft was abusing its dominant market position.

The statement closes by saying the Commission will determine whether Microsoft has fully and accurately complied with its directive. This evening's language leaves open the possibility that the EC could characterize, about three weeks from now, Microsoft's bold move as a face-saving stunt. What the Commission is looking for, today's main paragraph appears to say, is the documentation for the source code, implying that source code does not necessarily document itself. It would be a compelling argument, given Microsoft's historical plethora of what one of its earliest programmers, Multiplan creator Charles Simonyi, originally dubbed "spaghetti."