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Updated: February 21, 2008
On This Page
 NEW! Open Access to Protocol Documentation
NEW! Patent License
Patent Pledge for Open Source Developers
Documentation Availability and Updates
Patent Map and Patent Pledge
Tasks and Scenarios
Technical Support
Windows Server Source Code Review Offering
Licensing Flexibility
Background Information About WSPP
The Microsoft Work Group Server Protocol Program (WSPP) provides access to protocols that are used by Windows Server operating systems to provide file, print, and user and group administration services to Windows work group networks.
The documentation for the WSPP protocols is published on MSDN and can be used without restrictions.
Patent licenses covering the WSPP protocols are also available.
NEW! Open Access to Protocol Documentation
WSPP protocols are now published on MSDN. This documentation has previously been available only under confidentiality obligations.
Download these protocols from Microsoft Work Group Server Protocol Program Documentation.
NEW! Patent License
Some WSPP protocols include patented inventions, and others do not. You may benefit from the WSPP patent license if you are distributing implementations of WSPP protocols commercially or if you use an implementation of any of the WSPP protocols covered by Microsoft patents.
A trade secret license is also available.
Patent Pledge for Open Source Developers
Microsoft irrevocably promises not to assert any Microsoft Necessary Claims against you as an open source software developer ("You") for making, using, importing, or distributing any implementation of a Covered Specification ("Covered Implementation"), subject to the following. This is a personal promise directly from Microsoft to You, and You acknowledge it is a condition of benefiting from it that no Microsoft rights are received from suppliers, distributors, or otherwise by any other person in connection with this promise. To benefit from this promise, You must be a natural or legal person participating in the creation of software code for an open source project. An "open source project" is a software development project the resulting source code of which is freely distributed, modified, or copied pursuant to an open source license and is not commercially distributed by its participants. If You engage in the commercial distribution or importation of software derived from an open source project or if You make or use such software outside the scope of creating such software code, You do not benefit from this promise for such distribution or for these other activities.
To clarify, "Microsoft Necessary Claims" are those claims of Microsoft-owned or Microsoft-controlled patents that are necessary to implement the Covered Specification. "Covered Specifications" are listed below. Where a software development project has in all other respects the characteristics of an open source project, distribution among the participants of that project of source code developed by natural persons under an employment contract or by natural or legal persons under a contract to develop is not considered to be commercial distribution, and that software development project does not lose its character as an open source project merely because such distribution takes place among participants. Software is deemed to be commercially distributed within the meaning of this promise when the distributor derives revenues in connection with the distribution, such as from subscriptions, updates, or user-based connection fees or from services that are contractually required for a customer to obtain the current version and/or updates of the software product in question.
This promise is not an assurance either (i) that any of the Microsoft-issued patent claims cover a Covered Implementation or are enforceable or (ii) that a Covered Implementation would not infringe on patents or other intellectual property rights of any third party. No other rights except those expressly stated in this promise shall be deemed granted, waived, or received by implication, exhaustion, estoppel, or otherwise.
Covered Specifications (the promise applies individually to each of these specifications):
Specifications for the WSPP protocols, including updates and corrections, provided by Microsoft pursuant to Article 5 of the Commission of the European Communities Decision dated March 24, 2004, relating to a proceeding under Article 82 of the EC Treaty (Case COMP/C-3/37.792-Microsoft).
Documentation Availability and Updates
Documentation is now available on MSDN for WSPP protocols up to and including those in the Windows Server 2008 operating system. Microsoft will publish documentation for new or modified WSPP protocols as follows:
- If there is a beta release of updates to or successor versions of Windows client and Windows Server operating systems that contain the modified or new WSPP protocol, the updated documentation will be published no later than the date on which the first public beta testing version of the relevant update or successor version containing the applicable WSPP protocol is made available by Microsoft through an MSDN subscription offering or of which 150,000 or more copies are distributed. This beta documentation will be updated to correspond to the commercially released version of the applicable update or successor Windows products no later than 15 days before the commercial release of the relevant update or successor Windows products.
- If there is no beta release, the updated documentation will be published no later than 15 days before commercial release of the relevant update or successor Windows products.
Patent Map and Patent Pledge
To assist you in determining whether a patent license may be beneficial for you, Microsoft provides the following list of patents that read on the protocols.
The Microsoft Patent Pledge for WSPP Protocol Implementations
Microsoft irrevocably promises not to assert any Subject Patent Claims against you for making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing any implementation of a Covered Specification ("Covered Implementation"), subject to the following. This is a personal promise directly from Microsoft to you, and you acknowledge it is a condition of benefiting from it that no Microsoft rights are received from suppliers, distributors, or otherwise by any other person in connection with this promise.
"Subject Patent Claims" are those claims of Microsoft-owned or Microsoft-controlled patents that are infringed by making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing a Covered Implementation, and that are not contained in a patent or patent application that:
- Is listed in the "European Union and United States Patent and Patent Applications for Work Group Server Protocol Program Protocols" document ("Patent Map") posted on the WSPP Web site ("Listed Patents").
- Issues from any of the pending patent applications contained in the Patent Map.
- Issues from an application with a priority date that is after the Effective Date of the Patent Map ("New Application"), provided that Microsoft has posted an updated version of the Patent Map that contains the New Application to the WSPP Web site no later than 45 days after the date the New Application has been filed.
- Is added to the Patent Map following an update to the WSPP Documentation that causes such patent or patent application to read upon the WSPP Documentation, provided Microsoft has posted an updated version of the Patent Map that contains such patent or patent application to the WSPP Web site no later than 45 days after the date the updated WSPP Documentation is made available to WSPP licensees.
- Issues from any continuation, continuation-in-part, or divisional that has priority based upon any of the patents described in (a), (b), (c), or (d) above.
- Is a reissue, renewal, substitution, re-examination, or extension of any of the patents described in (a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) above.
Subject Patent Claims also do not include any claims (i) to any underlying or enabling technology that may be used or needed to make or use a Covered Implementation or (ii) to any implementation of specifications or technologies that are merely referred to in the body of the Covered Specifications.
Microsoft acknowledges that by benefiting from this promise, you are not waiving your right to contest the validity of any of the Subject Patent Claims.
This promise is not an assurance either (i) that any Microsoft-issued Subject Patent Claims covers a Covered Implementation or is enforceable or (ii) that a Covered Implementation would not infringe on patents or other intellectual property rights of any third party. No other rights except those expressly stated in this promise shall be deemed granted, waived, or received by implication, exhaustion, estoppel, or otherwise.
Covered Specifications (the promise applies individually to each of these specifications)
Specifications for the WSPP Protocols, including updates and corrections, provided by Microsoft pursuant to Article 5 of the Commission of the European Communities Decision dated March 24, 2004, relating to a proceeding under Article 82 of the EC Treaty (Case COMP/C-3/37.792-Microsoft).
Tasks and Scenarios
The patent license categories for WSPP are based on groups of protocols that perform file, print, and user and group administration server tasks and scenarios. (In some cases, specific protocols can be applied to more than one task.)
- File and Print Task
- Base File Services
- Distributed File System + File Replication Service
- Print Remote Procedure Call
- Internet File and Print
- Advanced File Systems
- User and Group Administration Task
- Base Authentication and Authorization
- Domain Services Interaction
- Multi-Factor Authentication and Certificate Services
- Group Policy
- Systems and System Health Management
- Directory and Global Catalog Replication
- Kerberos Group Membership
- Windows Remove Registry Services
- Windows Event Logging
- Network Time Services
- Network Access Protection
- Network Connection Management
- MSDN Protocols
- Remote Procedure Calls
- Rights Management Services
- Networking Transport
Technical Support
Managed technical support regarding the WSPP protocols is available at no charge. Plugfests and Interoperability Labs are also available, and are free for WSPP Patent Agreement licensees. For more information regarding this optional WSPP technical support offering and how to sign up for it, contact the WSPP Licensing team.
Windows Server Source Code Review Offering
WSPP Patent Agreement licensees have the optional benefit of review access to Windows Server source code at no additional charge. Upon execution of a Source Code License Addendum to their WSPP Patent Agreement, licensees can obtain viewing access to Windows Server source code for their review during development of WSPP protocol implementations. For more information on this offering, contact the WSPP Licensing team.
Licensing Flexibility
Microsoft is committed to working constructively and in a spirit of good faith to craft appropriate royalties and customized licenses that may depart from programmatic offerings to address the needs of a particular licensee.
Background Information About WSPP
Microsoft designed WSPP to meet the obligation to make protocol technology available to relevant parties and to allow the use of Microsoft technology in the manner required by the European Commission Decision issued on March 24, 2004. To that end, Microsoft has established a licensing program—in consultation with the European Commission—that includes a process for evaluating the protocol technology, a royalty structure, and various license forms. For more information, contact the WSPP Licensing team.
Links to background documents referenced in the WSPP license agreements are here:
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