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[News] Standards Bodies Corrupted by Microsoft OOXML

  • Subject: [News] Standards Bodies Corrupted by Microsoft OOXML
  • From: Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2007 13:38:11 +0100
  • Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy
  • Organization: Netscape / schestowitz.com
  • User-agent: KNode/0.10.4
Standard needed for Standards voting

,----[ Quote ]
| The last two months however have seen reports from various countries 
| questioning the basis on which their votes are being decided. The 
| constitution of the committees and the manner in which the national position 
| is decided seem to me to be flawed.   
`----

http://blogs.sun.com/sdsouza/entry/standard_needed_for_standards_voting

Also worth a mention:

Can Other Vendors Implement Microsoft's Office Open XML? 

,----[ Quote ]
| This paper examines whether OOXML can be fully implemented by vendors other 
| than Microsoft and concludes that a number of application specific and 
| undisclosed behaviours (as well as a number of other technical flaws) in the 
| proposed standard make this impossible.   
`----

http://holloway.co.nz/can-other-vendors-implement-ooxml.html?from=lxer.com

Microsoft Office Open XML standard faces ratification set back

http://computerworlduk.com/technology/development/software/news/index.cfm?newsid=4708


Related:

OSIA takes issue with OOXML, lobbies Standards Australia

,----[ Quote ]
| Opposition to the endorsement of the program comes on top of the suspected 
| stacking by Microsoft of a variety of standards bodies in order to get OOXML 
| approved as the ISO standard. "This was not part of OSIA's submission and is 
| not anything OSIA has direct knowledge of", said Scott. "However, there are a 
| number of people who assert that Microsoft is doing as you suggest", he said.    
`----

http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php?id=562760212&rid=-50


Report from Australia - the OOXML Forum

,----[ Quote ]
| I'd say things look grim in Australia, but it's not too late to express 
| yourself to Australia Standards. The public is encouraged to continue to send 
| comments until August 21.  
`----

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20070809103920651


Swiss Cheese [for OOXML]

,----[ Quote ]
| The present spin doctors of Microsoft and ECMA managed to convince Mr. 
| Thomann to reject every serious technical and general concern we had 
| regarding OOMXL by pointing to compatibility reasons. At the end we had a 
| majority _against_ Microsoft but which (giving the unfair rules) results in a 
| Swiss vote _for_ Microsoft. Mr. Thomann was fretting and fuming at the end of 
| the meeting how it can be that successful international companies (we had 
| representatives from IBM, Google, ...) vote against the best interest of 
| their customers and theirself!       
| 
| Yes, this is how the democratic system at SNV / ISO works. After the meeting 
| I could not eat as much as I wanted to puke... 
`----

http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-15521/swiss-cheese


Interview with Ecma’s Secretarie General

,----[ Quote ]
| The following is an interview of Jan van den Beld, the Secretarie General of 
| Ecma International.  
| 
| [...]
| 
|       (ramble on multiple and proprietary 'standards')
| 
| DB: But don’t you think that encourages patent wars?
| 
| JvdB: I have never thought so deeply about it (how the pemission of multiple 
| standards encourages patent wars). In a way yes, of course, there are hardly 
| any subjects in hi-tech where no patents are involved. That is one of the big 
| worries about bodies being concerned with patents So, we stay out of it. If 
| you have a patent, you get an unconditional right and what you do with your 
| patent is your business. You can ask "is that good?" Well that’s an 
| interesting question.       
`----

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?page_id=2259


No is no, to OOXML

,----[ Quote ]
| I’ve heard several reports of supporters of OOXML trying to get national 
| standards bodies to change their votes from “NO with comments” to “YES with 
| comments” because “it’s the same thing.” The logic, which I’ll explain in a 
| later post, is that any comments will trigger a ballot resolution meeting, so 
| there is no need to be so negative and vote NO.    
`----

http://www.sutor.com/newsite/blog-open/?p=1762


IBM is still locked out of the Portuguese OOXML meeting

,----[ Quote ]
| In spite of various communications, we [IBM] are still locked out and will 
| not be allowed to participate. Microsoft will be there, as well as a special 
| Microsoft guest, as will various Microsoft business partners, and others.  
`----

http://www.sutor.com/newsite/blog-open/?p=1755


OOXML does not buy its way in Italy

,----[ Quote ]
| Particularly noteworthy is the fact that among those favouring the adoption 
| of the standard without reservation a large majority is made of business 
| partners of the proposing entity [Microsoft], a law firm retained by the 
| latter, the official certified business partners association of the proposing 
| entity.     
`----

http://www.piana.eu/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=1#0


http://www.openxml.info/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=5&id=7&Itemid=13

,----[ Quote ]
| [PJ: OpenXML.info is reporting (in Portuguese, but a Groklaw member 
| translates for us) that the person who is head of the ISO technical committee 
| about to vote on Microsoft's Ecma-376 wouldn't let IBM and Sun 
| representatives in, claiming there was no room! This, if true, is ridiculous. 
| And  here is a second source reporting the same thing, also in Portuguese. So 
| in the US, we hear reports of packing the TC. Now, it's weeding out those who 
| are not likely to vote a certain way desired? Is this how standards 
| get "approved"? I don't recall ODF having to play such games. Here is the 
| rough translation:]        
| 
| Portugal, and more concretely, its national organization of certification IPQ 
| is a member "O" (observator) of ISO/IEC for the voting of OOXML (ISO DIS 
| 29500).  
| 
| WARNING: the first meeting of the Technical Commission "Language for document 
| definition" was on Monday 16 of July. The vote was delayed. Representatives 
| of IBM and Sun were not allowed to attend because there "was no available 
| space in the room"   
| 
| Dear G [Sun Microsystems] due of restricted number of members of the CT 
| (Commissao Tecnica) that can attend the scheduled meeting room to host the 
| meeting, we cannot, in this stage, accept your proposal of integration of the 
| CT.   
| 
| With my best regards,
| D [Microsoft as president of the Technical Commission]
`----


http://mv.asterisco.pt/2007/Jun/cat.cgi?MS%20OOXML

,----[ Quote ]
|     * More details are emerging from Portugal regarding the kerfuffle there 
|     over Ecma-376. If you read Portuguese, here you go -- just click on the 
|     link. I asked a Groklaw member to do a rough translation, and if you see 
|     ways to improve it, sing out, but it gives a bit of the history of how 
|     this committee that has no room for Sun or IBM (see previous News Picks 
|     item) was formed and how it happened to choose a Microsoft representative 
|     to be president of the committee that decides whether to "approve" 
|     Microsoft's submission as a "standard". Unless I'm missing something, it 
|     appears to have been set up so Microsoft can "approve" itself. Now that's 
|     handy. Here's the translation of the part about how Microsoft is 
|     represented on this committeee with no room for IBM or Sun:]          
| 
|       I was present on the meeting of the Technical Commission (CT) created 
|       to award the ISO standards in the area of structured documents (in 
|       Portugal)  
| 
|       A Technical Commission (CT) did not exist when ISO 26300 (Open 
|       Document) was submitted neither when there was a submission of OOXML 
|       (ECMA 376, potential ISO 29500) for the the fast track, and that was 
|       the reason why Portugal did not submit any opinion nor had any right to 
|       vote. We expect that now, with the pressure made and the CT created 
|       there would be right to vote.     
| 
|       The CT was created by the Computing Institute, in which is delegated 
|       the responsability for the norms of the IT sector; a delegation granted 
|       by the Portuguese Institute of Quality (IPQ), the point of contact of 
|       ISO in Portugal. Its creation is motivated mainly by the pressures and 
|       availability of some people when the proposal for fast tracking of 
|       OOXML and a neccessity to avail now the OOXML as standard ISO and as a 
|       Portuguese National Standard      
| 
|       In the meeting they were present:
| 
|     * 2 persons from II (Instituto de Informatica [Computing Institute])
|     * 1 person from the local government (Alentejo region)
|     * 1 person from Jurinfor [Jurinfor is a Microsoft partner]
|     * 2 persons from Microsoft
|     * 1 person from Primavera [Primavera is a Microsoft partner]
|     * 1 person from ISCTE
|     * 2 persons from Assoft [reportedly, most members of ASSOFT are Microsoft 
|     partners] 
|     * 1 person from the Inst. Informatica da Seg Social [Computing Institute 
|     of the Social Welfare Department] 
|     * 1 person from the Inst. Tecn. Informacao da Justiça (eu) [Technical 
|     Institute Information of Justice (eu)] 
| 
| The meeting dealt basically with the bureaucracy details of the creation of 
| the CT. It didn't go into details of OOXML; that discussion will be held in 
| the next meeting, on July 16th about 14:30 in the II [Instituto de 
| Informatica, I assume]   
| 
| The CT, thus, was composed of 8 vocal elements, one representative for each 
| of the organizations present. The II [Instituto de Informatica] is arranging 
| and hosting the initiative and is a not-named representative.  
| 
| The 8 vocals will readily follow to the election of the president of the CT. 
| There was 1 candidate in the place (Miguel Sales Dias, from Microsoft). I did 
| not present my candidature but made myself available in case the rest of 
| representatives deemed it neccesary -- informed not adequate since to begin 
| with, as a member of the OpenDocument Alliance, I had a conflict of interest.    
| 
| The vote results were 7 votes in favor of Miguel Sales Dias, of Microsoft, 
| who was designated to preside over the CT, and a (1) blank vote. 
| 
| It was decided to adopt consensus as the form of adoption of any proposed 
| norm, following to majority vote in case there is no consensus in the CT and 
| if there is a strong opposition to submit any norm.   
`----


How the Game is Played: INCITS V1 Narrowly Votes Down OOXML

,----[ Quote ]
| As significantly, Rob reports that a very dramatic increase in the membership 
| of V1 was observed in the months leading up to the vote – most of whom were 
| coincidentally were representatives of Microsoft business partners, and the 
| great majority of whom voted as a block in favor of advancing the 
| specification in a manner that would permit, and against any vote that would 
| prevent, final approval as an ISO/IEC standard.      
`----

http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20070715200544734


Sock Puppets to VoteSock Puppets to Vote on Monopoly Enablement in Colombia?

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft sets the deck of card and ensures that (at least) 9 of out 14 
| chairs in the technical committee are also in its pocket. 
`----

http://boycottnovell.com/2007/08/03/colombia-ooxml/


Microsoft is Outmuscling OOXML Opposition in Spain

,----[ Quote ]
| The Andalusian Government has reported recently the manipulation of Microsoft 
| in the National Technical Committee 71 of AENOR. On July 10th, just the day 
| before the one and only meeting of AENOR to study DIS 29500 and vote on it, 
| Microsoft announced officially (via the secretary of the Committee) that that 
| Andalusian Government and several other Spanish public entities were asking 
| for the approval of ISO DIS 29500 (what finally resulted all a fake!).     
`----

http://boycottnovell.com/2007/07/27/ooxmll-spain/


Packing The Court At The ISO?

,----[ Quote ]
|      ...P member countries ('participating member' countries) sending 
|     representatives, and I am interested to note the majority of
|     their representatives are, as individuals, also Microsoft employees.
| 
| [...]
| 
| How can they not see that OOXML (ECMA 376) is unwanted by anyone outside of 
| Microsoft? How about it Brian Jones? Are you really so desperate that you
| have to resort to that?
`----

http://lnxwalt.wordpress.com/2007/03/23/packing-the-court-at-the-iso/


OOXML Fails to Gain Approval in US

,----[ Quote ]
| On Friday July 13th, INCITS V1 met via teleconference for 3 hours but failed 
| to reach a 2/3 consensus necessary to recommend an "Approval, with comments" 
| position on Microsoft "Office Open XML" (OOXML) document specification.  
`----

http://www.robweir.com/blog/2007/07/ooxml-fails-to-gain-approval-in-us.html


Guest Commentary: The converter hoax

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft maintains that while it would have been easy to support the Open 
| Document Format (ODF) natively, it had to move to MS-OOXML because this was 
| the only way for them to offer the full features of its office suite. But if 
| Microsoft itself is not able to represent its internal data structures in the 
| Open Document Format (ODF) in its Microsoft Office suite, how could an 
| external conversion program from MS-OOXML accomplish this task? The answer to 
| both questions is that it is not possible because two things cannot be the 
| same and different at the same time.       
`----

http://www.heise.de/open/artikel/92735

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