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[News] [Rival] Microsoft Partner Backlash in the United Kingdom

Microsoft partners want their pound of flesh

,----[ Quote ]
| UK MICROSOFT partners have demanded a percentage of profits the vendor makes 
| from its direct sales venture to compensate for the loss of as much as a 
| quarter of their sales.  
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/03/microsoft-partners-pound-flesh

Maybe they should also receive payments for rigging votes on OOXML.


Recent:

Microsoft EULA lands it with $175m Indian tax headache

,----[ Quote ]
| Basing its ruling on the terms of Microsoft's own EULA (end-user license 
| agreement), an Indian court has ordered the company to pay tax on royalty 
| income generated in the country, Tax India Online (TIOL) reports.  
| 
| [...]
| 
| “Unacceptable tax avoidance typically involved the creation of complex 
| artificial structures by which, as though by the wave of a magic wand, the 
| tax payer conjures out of the air a loss, or a gain, or expenditure, or 
| whatever it may be, which otherwise would never have existed. These 
| structures are designed to achieve an adventitious tax benefit for the 
| taxpayer, and in truth are no more than raids on the public funds at the 
| expense of the general body of taxpayers, and as such are unacceptable.      
`----

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/03/31/microsoft_india_tax_ruling/


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


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


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/


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


Related:

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

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