OOXML: Brazil Says NO
,----[ Quote ]
| After a very difficult and inconclusive meeting in ABNT (Brazilian Technical
| Standards Organization) office last Tuesday, the standards process director
| had to analyze the audio recording of all the meeting, review some facts,
| review again all 63+2 comments produced by the technical group about the ECMA
| specification, and conclude that a NO for OOXML is the correct position for
| Brazil in ISO Fast Track process.
`----
http://avi.alkalay.net/2007/08/ooxml-brazil-says-no.html
Also India, says Groklaw.
OOXML: Is it safe?
,----[ Quote ]
| The tragedy of this is that for so many NB's, with talented technical
| committees, the discussion of OOXML has failed to be a technical evaluation,
| but has quickly become a political game, where committees are stuffed,
| governments are pressured, billionaires call in favors, competitors blocked
| from participation, voting rules ignored or modified at whim, etc. All we can
| do is stand by and watch as Microsoft takes over JTC1. The cost to Microsoft
| will be great, but so much greater is the cost to JTC1. What will it mean for
| JTC1's future to be known as a body that does not follow its own rules, does
| not evaluate proposals on technical merits, but has procedures so weak and
| poorly written that it allows itself to be taken over by a single company?
| Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
`----
http://www.robweir.com/blog/2007/08/is-it-safe.html
Standards NZ to canvass local views on Open XML
,----[ Quote ]
| Thomas says Standards New Zealand has received a number of letters on the
| issue and “had a lot of contact from some parties” including Microsoft and a
| consulting firm working for the software giant. Microsoft New Zealand
| director of innovation Brett Roberts identified that firm as Wellington-based
| Guinness Gallagher.
`----
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/news/08415C7094EEE050CC25733A0008C682
Related:
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
The *Complete* Story on the US INCITS Vote
,----[ Quote ]
| Well, it’s hard to take a vacation, isn’t it? Not only is it styled as “going
| quiet,” but it offers an opportunity for others to present only part of the
| story. While much of what Jason writes is accurate, it’s curious what he
| leaves out - including the fact that not one ballot, but two, have been
| circulated to the INCITS Executive Board for simultaneous voting.
`----
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20070822150743399
,----[ Quote ]
| Everyone is in the same boat with this: KOffice, Corel, Google, IBM, anyone
| who has applications that work with Microsoft documents. We’re all faced with
| the prospect of significant expenses to rewrite our file format support with
| no net benefit to our customers. This is the toll we all must pay to
| Microsoft just for the ability to fight for the scraps their monopoly may
| leave behind. If Microsoft jerks their format around, we all must run and
| chase after it, reallocating resources away from feature work, becoming in
| the process less competitive in the marketplace, while Microsoft forges ahead
| with new features. They can easily repeat this game every few years, just to
| keep competitors busy. This is what a death spiral looks like.
|
| Giving absolute control of a standard document format to a monopolist that is
| notorious for abusing their control of file formats in the past is insanity.
| It doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to figure that out.
`----
http://www.robweir.com/blog/2007/08/dog-that-didnt-bark.html
Two Studios to Support HD DVD Over Rival
,----[ Quote ]
| But money talks: Paramount and DreamWorks Animation together will receive
| about $150 million in financial incentives for their commitment to HD
| DVD, according to two Viacom executives with knowledge of the deal but
| who asked not to be identified.
|
| The incentives will come in a combination of cash and promotional
| guarantees. Toshiba, for instance, will use the release of “Shrek the
| Third” as part of an HD DVD marketing campaign.
|
| Paramount and DreamWorks Animation declined to comment. Microsoft, the
| most prominent technology company supporting HD DVDs, said it could not
| ^^^^^^^^^
| rule out payment but said it wrote no checks. “We provided no financial
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| incentives to Paramount or DreamWorks whatsoever,” said Amir Majidimehr,
| the head of Microsoft’s consumer media technology group.
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/technology/21disney.html?ei=5088&en=d4e1f285e2f41437&ex=1345348800&adxnnl=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1187698143-B5wO3L/F+4r1NyAsum87vQ
Related:
Fighting Megatron: five steps to freedom
,----[ Quote ]
| The free software world is being attacked by a large, wealthy, brutal
| monopolist, who I’ll call “Megatron” for today. As I wrote last month,
| Megatron is driving its OOXML tank through the village church of open
| standards, doing unspeakable things to the ISO process, with the intention of
| locking in a generation of computer users to its stack of patented,
| restricted, and undocumented formats. It’s about freedom, some of us want it,
| others want to take it away from us.
`----
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/blogs/fighting_megatron_five_steps_to_freedom
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§ionid=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
|
|
