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[News] BSI Under Legal Attack for Microsoft OOXML Sellout/Misconduct?

Unix beardies get legal over OOXML

,----[ Quote ]
| the UK Unix and Open Systems User Group (UKUUG) has sought the advice of a 
| barrister over whether it can mount a legal challenge to a British Standards 
| Institute decision to approve the Microsoft standard. It has also written to 
| the BSI asking for an explanation.   
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/09/unix-beardies-legal-ooxml

They recently published a self-contradictory damage control FAQ. They refuse to
the story (see below). With the Internet, however, corruption gets shallow.


Recent:

Expect a 2nd Official Complaint -- Against UK's OOXML Vote

,----[ Quote ]
| Update 3: To help you understand what Taylor means that once BSI owns up to 
| what it has done, then there will be a complaint filed, here's an email that 
| a reader just sent me, a response to his request to understand why the UK 
| changed its vote at the last minute, which we have permission to publish:   
| 
|     ---- Original Message ------------
|     Subject: RE: no information re: dis 29500
|     From: "Lucy Fulton" [redacted email]
|     Date: Tue, April 1, 2008 12:34 pm
|     To: [redacted email]
| 
|     -----------------------------------
| 
|     Dear Mr Wright,
| 
|     Many thanks for your email.
| 
|     It is not BSI's policy to make public the details of how it votes on 
|     International Standards. BSI sent a delegation to the ballot resolution 
|     meeting which took place in Geneva in February 2008 and subsequently 
|     requested that its technical committee carry out a review of its position 
|     on ISO/IEC DIS 29500.    
| 
|     The technical committee did so, made a consensus decision and advised BSI 
|     on its vote. 
| 
|     This is the procedure with any international ballot.
| 
|     Best wishes,
| 
|     Lucy Fulton 
`----

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080401133818372


Whatever Happened to Standards?

,----[ Quote ]
| The British Standards Institution (BSI) has always been one of those iconic 
| central points of reference in British life – a kind of Big Ben for 
| standards. But it's a little hard to square that image – perhaps hopelessly 
| outdated – with the BSI's recent decision to vote in favour of Microsoft's 
| OOXML document standard.    
| 
| You don't have to take my word for this cognitive dissonance. Someone rather 
| more qualified than me to comment on the process to produce the final version 
| of the proposed standard is Tim Bray. He's generally credited with being one 
| of the fathers of XML, which of course lies at the heart of OOXML. It's true 
| he's currently employed by Sun, the main backer of the rival ODF standard, 
| and so potentially biased, but I don't think anybody has ever impugned his 
| integrity because of that.       
`----

http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=668&blogid=14


How many bricks for 67Bricks?

,----[ Quote ]
| Inigo Surguy, the 67 Bricks Chief Technologist, was appointed Principal UK 
| Expert in Microsoft’s Office Open XML (OOXML) document format by the British 
| Standards Institute technical committee responsible for British and 
| international XML standards.   
| 
| 67Bricks is part of the Microsoft Empower programme.
`----

http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-49516/how-many-bricks-for-67bricks


John Pugh, MP, Rides to the Rescue

,----[ Quote ]
| Dear Mr Low,
| 
| I am deeply concerned that some national bodies have considered approving 
| DIS29500 "in their national interest". 
| 
| It is not in the interest of the UK or any other country for DIS 29500 to be 
| published as an international standard in its present form as there are a 
| significant number of unresolved issues, including incompatible licensing 
| conditions, single vendor interest and control as well as those other   
| factors uncovered since the original comment period closed. There is also the 
| issue that is no current form of DIS 29500, as yet another exception to the  
| process was made regarding the presentation of the proposed changes. 
| 
| Issues raised by the BSI and others during the original 30 day objections 
| phase have also never been properly addressed, not least of which is the 
| unsuitability of such a large and complex specification of an unproven format 
| to the fast track process.   
| 
| Such a standard, if approved, would govern the manipulation of all future 
| documents and lock users into a single supplier environment. The OOXML 
| specification contains significant Intellectual Property Rights and other 
| traps which will:   
| 
| - Stifle competition
| 
| - Diminish innovation overall
| 
| - Severely restrict consumer choice
| 
| - Block Government choice
| 
| - Limit the ability of UK SMEs to innovate and compete 
`----

http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=654


Related:

The BSI Has Been Corrupted by Microsoft — Another Chink in ISO’s armor

,----[ Quote ]
| Britain will be essentially represented by a Microsoft Gold Certified 
| Partner, having rejected OOXML several months ago. This apparently comes 
| after a reappointment.  
`----

http://boycottnovell.com/2008/02/15/bsi-sends-microsoft-partner/


EU Initiates Investigation Against Microsoft OOXML Push

,----[ Quote ]
| But with Steve Ballmer taking over as CEO, there was supposed to be a kinder, 
| gentler Microsoft - one that would play nicely with its competitors.  When 
| antitrust regulators in turn challenged this new Microsoft, it issued not 
| challenges to fight to the end to prove that it had done nothing illegal, but 
| statements promising to "cooperate fully."    
| 
| But at the same time, Microsoft is still a tough competitor.  As Microsoft's 
| Director of Corporate Standards Jason Matusow famously warned at his blog 
| last year:  
| 
|     Make no mistake; all parties are looking at the full picture to find 
|     strategies that will result in the outcome they desire. Provided - of 
|     course - that they do so within the context of the rules that apply to 
|     the process, this is exactly what one should expect to happen. It is 
|     going to be a very interesting next few months.    
| 
| Indeed, the months that followed proved to be interesting indeed.  Microsoft 
| said that some of its employees became over zealous, most flagrantly in 
| Sweden, where marketing assists were promised to several business partners as 
| incentives to join the national standards committee and vote for OOXM.   
`----

http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20080208082501776


EU Commission Investigating Microsoft's MSOOXML Push

,----[ Quote ]
| I hope they think to investigate the smear campaigns that seem to always 
| happen to anyone on the other side from Microsoft. What happened to Peter 
| Quinn was by no means unique.  
`----

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080208151410252


Corrupt countries were more likely to support the OOXML document format

,----[ Quote ]
| Is this just a random coincidence? The median of the CPI index of the above 
| mentioned 70 countries is 3.95. Of the most corrupted half (CPI index less 
| than 3.95) 23 or 77% voted for approval (approval or approval with comments) 
| and 7 or 23% for disapproval; 5 abstained. Of the least corrupted half (CPI 
| index more than 3.95) 13 or 54% voted for approval and 11 or 46% voted for 
| disapproval; 11 abstained - see the table below.      
`----

http://www.effi.org/blog/kai-2007-09-05.en.html


Microsoft accused of more OOXML standards fiddling 

,----[ Quote ]
| However the 11 new countries are refusing to say how they will vote. These 
| include Cote d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Ecuador, Jamaica, Lebanon, Malta, Pakistan, 
| Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uruguay and Venezuela. Most people seem to think 
| that these have been put there by Vole to make sure the standard gets pushed 
| through.    
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=42106


Gates blackmailed Danish government

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft boss Bill Gates threatened to kill 800 Danish jobs if 
| Denmark opposed the European Computer Implemented Inventions
| Directive, reports today's Danish financial daily Børsen,
| quoted by NoSoftwarePatents.com.
`----

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/articles/auto/02162005a.php


Sarkozy intervenes in France to revert the OOXML position

,----[ Quote ]
| Confidential sources say that President Sarkozy has intervened himself in the 
| French position on Microsoft OOXML, asking members of the committee to revert 
| their position, and support an abstention. Our sources say he was approached 
| by a lobbyist during his 3-days trip in England. The intervention has been 
| made on Friday.    
`----

http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-50670/sarkozy-intervenes-in-france-to-revert-the-ooxml-position


Kenya Changes From Yes to Abstain! Denmark Says No; EU Commission Investigating
Poland - Updated 5Xs - Mexico

,----[ Quote ]
| [...]
| 
| And more news from troubled Poland, with news that the EU Commission is 
| investigating the process in that country. Things have reportedly gone from 
| bad to worse there, with threats of lawsuits in the air if folks talk 
| publicly about what is happening.   
| 
| [...]
| 
| [More bits about Poland, Finland, software patents in OOXML]
| 
| [....]
| 
| Get a load of this, will you? Participants at the BRM were told that only 
| technical issues can be addressed. Bill Gates, however, reportedly contacted 
| the president of Mexico to try to influence Mexico to accept OOXML. Unless, 
| of course, they were talking about representing dates in Excel or other 
| technical issues. Hardy har. Like, totally. I'm sure.    
`----

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080327104739103


Microsoft Looks for the Big Guns in OOXML In-Fighting

,----[ Quote ]
| Bill Gates has reportedly been making phone calls to the Secretary of Defense 
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| and the Secretary of Commerce to push the American National Standards 
| Institute to ignore the votes of its advisory committees and vote "yes" on 
| ISO standardizing Microsoft's Open Office XML (OOXML) format, the one in 
| competition with the OpenDocument Format (ODF) pushed by IBM and Sun.    
| 
| Gates reportedly picked up the phone when the last INCITS ballot failed by 
| one vote to support Microsoft. 
`----

http://xml.sys-con.com/read/419573_p.htm


Using NGOs to Push Agendas

,----[ Quote ]
| The extent to which Microsoft can go in its efforts to get OOXML is
| interesting. Microsoft has "persuaded" several non-profit organizations to 
| bombard the Indian IT Secretary and the Additional Director General of the 
| Bureau of Indian Standards with letters supporting its OOXML proposal. A copy 
| of the form letter they have been circulating to NGOs is given below. 
| Somebody should interview these NGOs to see how much they really know about 
| OOXML and open standards.      
| 
| The sequence of events leading up to the spamming of GoI? is:
| 
| Letter from an NGO thanking Microsoft (name changed to protect their
| identity) 
`----

http://wiki.linux-delhi.org/cgi-bin/twiki/view/OpenStandards/MsNgoLobby

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