There has been some concern that GPL implementations of material covered by Microsoft's Open Specification Promise are prohibited. Microsoft could resolve this with a clear statement that GPL implementations are OK. Why hasn't it?

The Open Specification Promise (OSP) is a clear and simple way to assure developers and customers working with commercial or open source software that they can implement the covered specifications. We leave it to those implementing these technologies to understand the legal environments in which they operate and this includes those who operate in a GPL environment. The feedback that we have received from the open source community has confirmed that the OSP covers the specifications for a very broad audience of developers.

Microsoft made it clear last year that it wanted to encumber the open source communities with patent royalties. Do you expect that Microsoft sponsored standards will tend to be covered by Microsoft patents? CNN's senior editor said: "If the company gets its way, free software won't be free anymore." is this an accurate claim?

This is certainly not the intent of Microsoft and the Open Specification Promise is just one of the mechanisms that we have implemented to obviate this. The Open Specification Promise is a simple and clear way to assure that the broadest audience of developers and customers working with commercial or open source software can implement specifications through a simplified method of sharing technical assets freely, easily, now and forever while recognising the legitimacy of intellectual property.

Could you elaborate on how Microsoft is working with customers, other vendors, competitors and the open source community to address real-world interoperability concerns in an Australian setting?

Microsoft is working with customers, partners, developers and competitors to drive interoperability initiatives in Australia. Fostering SMEs and building a viable ICT industry in Australia are key concerns for the current Federal government. Interoperability supports these aims by encouraging companies to come up with new and exciting approaches to common business challenges, fostering innovation and productivity. This - along with the recent ISO ratification of Ecma OpenXML document standard - presents significant new opportunities for software developers in Australia. One of the first local developers to take advantage of its capabilities is Melbourne-based Plutext, which is currently developing an open source application built using the Ecma OpenXML file format that enables collaborative editing between a Microsoft Word client and Java/Linux server environments.

We're also working closely with customers locally and in the region to take advantage of the results of our interoperability agreements with organisations like Novell. We'll have more to report on this in the coming months.