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[News] OpenDocument Format Becomes a National Standard in Croatia, OOXML a Patent Mess

  • Subject: [News] OpenDocument Format Becomes a National Standard in Croatia, OOXML a Patent Mess
  • From: Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:26:43 +0100
  • Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy
  • User-agent: KNode/0.10.4
ODF accepted as Croatian national standard

,----[ Quote ]
| Today, after a four hour meeting, Croatian CSI accepted ODF as a national 
| standard. 
`----

http://www.oddparity.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=45&Itemid=1#usercomments

Here comes another reason to ban OOXML from government policy. From the
Microsoft press:

Microsoft's Open Course

,----[ Quote ]
| Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, says Microsoft simply 
| fails to go far enough to indemnify developers who hope to write software 
| based on Microsoft's opened intellectual property (IP). He complains that 
| protections often exist only for what Microsoft terms "non-commercial 
| developers."    
| 
| "Unless it addresses the entire supply chain, it doesn't make a lot of 
| difference," Zemlin says, arguing that ill-defined boundaries of legal 
| protection under the Microsoft scheme may expose open source developers to 
| threat of litigation.   
| 
| "Think of it like ant poison. People who are non-commercial developers 
| think, 'I'm safe.' They then integrate a patented protocol into the upstream 
| code they're working on. Then that code somehow gets into the downstream," 
| Zemlin explains. "Well, that's like taking poison back into the [nest]. What 
| happens is, inadvertently, an open source developer brings insecticide with a 
| patent license requirement into an open source project."      
`----

http://reddevnews.com/features/article.aspx?editorialsid=2448


Related:

Microsoft trying to delay ODF adoption in Croatia

,----[ Quote ]
| In April 2007. Office for e-Croatia (governmental body responsible for all 
| things e-related) proposed introduction of ODF format as a national standard. 
| 
| [...]
| 
| However, in this particular case, Microsoft announced objections shortly 
| before the deadline, thus delaying the resolution of the proposal, and maybe 
| even forcing rejection of the proposal. Due to the secrecy that shrouds the 
| work of CSI, I can't tell what the objections are, nor whether Microsoft has 
| majority of its business partners as members of the panel (although it is 
| very likely so), but the last minute objections are confirmed.     
| 
| [...]
| 
| Even if things don't turn out that way, there's the possibility that 
| Microsoft might force OOXML acceptance by sheer voting power within the 
| panel, although I believe that in the case of OOXML failing ISO approval, 
| Microsoft would not dare to display such power over entire nation, at least 
| not while in the limelight.    
| 
| [...]
| 
| What does, however, is the fact that Microsoft and business partners are 
| clearly abusing CSI panel for their own selfish interests, where they as 
| members should think only of the benefit for the people of Croatia.  
`----

http://www.oddparity.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=1


Digitally Free Schools

,----[ Quote ]
| Marco Fioretti started new personal initiative which will hopefully make lots 
| of parents and teachers understand why they cannot ignore FOSS and Free 
| Culture anymore in the interest of their own children. He's going to publish 
| a directory of Digitally Free Schools, that all parents may check when 
| choosing a new school for their children.    
`----

http://kost.com.hr/blog/index.php?title=digitally_free_schools&amp;more=1&amp;c=1&amp;tb=1&amp;pb=1


Croatian government defined open source policy

,----[ Quote ]
| Today, Croatian goverment specified how to handle open source in
| government offices, ministries and agencies. Document is called Open
| source policy and it gives good push to open source implementation
| in government bodies.
`----

http://kost.com.hr/blog/index.php?title=croatian_government_defined_open_source_&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1


Croatian government adopts free software policy 

,----[ Quote ]
| Basically it feels that proprietary software leads to too much dependence on 
| suppliers, which can damage the market competition. 
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33120 


Croats embrace open source software

,----[ Quote ]
| The Croatian government has decided to dump proprietary software and
| move entirely to Open Source.
`----

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33860


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


Developer’s Beware: OOXML – IPR: Minding the Gaps and Why They Matter

,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft has a patent promise, the Open Specification Promise (OSP) and a 
| Covenant Not to Sue, relating to OOXML. If you want to implement OOXML with 
| confidence that you are not infringing on any intellectual property rights 
| (IPR), these coverages are not adequate. They have gaps.   
`----

http://www.odfalliance.org/resources/IssueBriefIPR.pdf


IP Issues with OOXML (DIS 29500)

,----[ Quote ]
| Out of all the free and open source licences which are available, there are 
| two which are disproportionately chosen by FOSS developers when licensing 
| their software. Those two are the GPL and the LGPL. Of these, the GPL is 
| disproportionately favoured over the LGPL.* If there are issues with GPL 
| implementations then there are IP issues with OOXML. Any assurance that 
| excludes implementation under these licences is just cause for the FOSS 
| community to voice concern.      
| 
| [...]
| 
| If there are issues with GPL implementations then there are IP issues with 
| OOXML. Microsoft implicitly concedes there are issues with GPL 
| implementations.  
`----

http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2008/02/05/ip-issues-with-ooxml-dis-29500/


By Metes and Bounds

,----[ Quote ]
| But you might say, "Please Rob, you can't be serious. Who would try to get a 
| patent on laying out a footnote? That just doesn't happen in the real world." 
| 
| But consider for Microsoft's patent application "Method and computer readable 
| medium for laying out footnotes" (US20060156225A1). I'm not saying that 
| application matches the above feature in the standard, but if it did, is 
| there anyone who will argue that the Open Specification Promise would not 
| apply in this case?    
`----

http://www.robweir.com/blog/2008/02/by-metes-and-bounds.html


Defensive Patents, Other Fairy Tales

,----[ Quote ]
| "Defensive patents" make as much sense as leaving a loaded gun around the 
| house. Like a home robbery, it is more likely it will be used against the 
| home owner then the intruder.  
`----

http://krow.livejournal.com/578868.html


Microsoft patents by Brian Jones

,----[ Quote ]
| For fun we just did a quick search of published US patent applications 
| with "Brian Jones" as an author, and "Microsoft" as the assignee. 
| 
| [...]
| 
| Some of these, like the packing ones, seem to apply directly to OOXML. What 
| isn't clear to us is why Microsoft would pursue patent protection for patents 
| rights that their are promising that they won't assert over users of OOXML.  
`----

http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-35323/microsoft-patents-by-brian-jones


Wishful Spinning

,----[ Quote ]
| OOXML gets adopted. More and more projects are started. Let's see which of 
| these would survive without funding. Meanwhile a spin factory sends out 
| success stories that most bloggers find worthless to discuss. It is possible 
| to get the Krauts on board that are supposed to review OOXML but would OOXML 
| survive a review by the crowds?    
`----

http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-35292/wishful-spinning


Digging in the Comments: Patents

,----[ Quote ]
| Patent licensing is probably the most important aspect for all third parties 
| that want to implement or use the Open XML specification. Unfortunately the 
| Ballot Resolution Meeting cannot discuss these aspects because only technical 
| and editorial issues would get resolved.   
| 
| [...]
| 
| When you have a patent which covers Open XML and you refuse to license it, 
| the standard process gets stalled. Large companies in the standardization 
| process are reluctant to use that nuke option. Given the ambush that the 
| software patent practice means today it is quite possible that Open XML 
| infringes a patent and all parties eventually have an obligation to license 
| it.     
`----

http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-31491/digging-in-the-comments:patents


Patent threat looms large over OOXML

,----[ Quote ]
| "If OOXML goes through as an ISO standard, the IT industry, government and 
| business will encumbered with a 6000-page specification peppered with 
| potential patent liabilities" said NZOSS President Don Christie.  
| 
| "Patent threats have already been used to spread doubt amongst organisations 
| keen to take advantage of the benefits of open source. No one knows whether 
| such claims have any merit, but it is calculated to deter the development and 
| use of open and alternative toolsets."   
`----

http://nzoss.org.nz/node/179


Cyberlaw OOXML Seminar 14 December

,----[ Quote ]
| However, this raises the issue - what assurance does a developer have that 
| such a large specification is not the subject of third party patent claims?  
|       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| The pedigree of the specification is certainly no reason for hope, Microsoft 
| has been the target of third party patent claims for some time now including 
| some high profile losses in patent suits. The fact that the specification has 
| been developed behind closed doors and on a fast track means that there has 
| been no adequate opportunity to evaluate the likelihood of third party patent 
| claims against the specifications. The sheer size of the document suggests 
| there will be at least a couple hiding in there somewhere.       
`----

http://brendanscott.wordpress.com/2007/12/13/cyberlaw-ooxml-seminar-14-december/


ISO warned about possible patent violations of DIS29500 (aka OOXML)

,----[ Quote ]
| I have just send the following email to ISO members (you can find some of 
| their email addresses on the INCTIS website) to warn them about the possible  
| patent ambush... 
`----

http://jeremywang67.blogspot.com/2008/01/iso-warned-about-possible-patent.html


Microsoft's Great Besmirching

,----[ Quote ]
| Writing to MEPs (if you’re European) or to Neelie Kroes, the European 
| Commissioner for Competition, (if you’re not) is one obvious action we can 
| all take to press for an independent, transparent inquiry into possible 
| irregularities during the OOXML voting process in Europe. But I think there’s 
| something just as important that we need to start doing immediately.    
| 
| It is striking that some parts of Microsoft have been making soothing noises 
| to the open source world, speaking of their desire to work alongside free 
| software projects and to ensure “interoperability” - a favourite concept at 
| the moment - between the open and closed worlds. Those voices have become 
| increasingly seductive to some, especially in the open source business world, 
| who would rather work with than against the Seattle behemoth, and who seem to 
| believe that Microsoft is genuine in its offers. But if the whole sorry OOXML 
| saga shows anything, it is Microsoft’s deep and utter contempt for the whole 
| idea of an open, collaborative process based on mutual respect and consensus. 
| Henceforth, members of the open source community must view with deep cynicism 
| all - not just some - offers by Microsoft to work more closely with the free 
| software world. If they don’t, they could find themselves used and abused 
| just like the once famous, and now former, International Standards
| Organisation.             
`----

http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/microsofts-great-besmirching

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