Industry analyst Rob Enderle, principal of the Enderle Group in San Jose, said Microsoft released its 12 tenets because the company realizes it must do more than fight just legal battles in regard to its business practices. "What Brad is trying to do is to get ahead of the message," Enderle said.

Microsoft doesn't want countries around the world to come up with their own individual requirements for Microsoft, he said, and is instead taking the lead now to promise an overall framework that countries can accept as a whole.

"They're putting out the message that they're trying to play nice," he said.