Microsoft Store withdraws policy to ban the sale of open source software

Microsoft announced in June 2022 that it has withdrawn its upcoming policy of effectively banning the sale of open source software in the Microsoft Store. This policy has received a lot of backlash from the open source software community since the decision to implement it was announced.

Permission to Sell FOSS in the Microsoft App Store Restored --Software Freedom Conservancy

Microsoft changes its policy against the sale of open source software in the Microsoft Store
https://betanews.com/2022/07/19/microsoft-changes-its-policy-against-the-sale-of-open-source-software-in-the-microsoft-store/

Microsoft U-turns on policy that would've banned commercial open source apps | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2022/07/19/microsoft-u-turns-on-policy-that-wouldve-banned-commercial-open-source-apps/

The problem was Microsoft Store policy '10.8.7', which stipulates that developers should not do it, 'trying to benefit from open source or other software that is generally available for free.' Also, set an unreasonably high price compared to the functions provided by the product. '

Developers agree that it prevents 'copycats' from copying and selling open source software, but with this content, even the maintainers and IP owners of the original project sell open source software. You will not be able to.

For this reason, there was a fierce opposition from the community, Microsoft could not ignore it, and the change in that part was abandoned. We've also added a new link to a form for developers and businesses to report infringement of their intellectual property rights.

'Last month we announced a misleading policy change,' said Microsoft's Giorgio Sardo. 'We've received your feedback and made a change to our policy. Open to clarify our intentions. Removed mention of source pricing. We are committed to building an open store, allowing developers to choose and respond flexibly. There are many great free and paid Microsoft Stores. We have open source software. '

Last month, we shared a few updates to Microsoft Store policies to help protect customers from misleading product listings. We heard your feedback, and today we made a change to policy 10.8.7 and 11.2 https://t.co/fJd50I4J0c 1/ 3

— Giorgio Sardo (@gisardo) July 18, 2022

2/3 To clarify our intent, we removed the previous mention to open source pricing. We're committed to building an open Store and enabling dev choice and flexibility. If there are intellectual property concerns about an app, please report it at https: //t.co/giZuHeCIpH

— Giorgio Sardo (@gisardo) July 18, 2022

3/3 There are many great free and paid OSS apps in the Microsoft Store, and we look forward to welcoming more https://t.co/AMNlX08GnN

— Giorgio Sardo (@gisardo) July 18, 2022