Bi-Directional Multilanguage Fidelity ODF Concerns
,----[ Quote ]
| The concern raised by a Vendor is yet another statement which is too
| broad and misleading. This technical commentary will prove
| conclusively that ODF v1.0 or ISO 26300 clearly supports BiDi
| (Bi-Directional) Multilanguage fidelity mixed in a paragraph.
| The source of this concern was due to the fact that the Vendor
| selectively chose an application which is still in development
| in the support of the full specification of ISO 26300. We can
| demonstrate this unfair choice by using a more mature application
| and can show that true interoperability and fidelity is possible,
| proving that ISO 26300 has excellent capabilities for
| multi-lingual usage, and suitable for multi-lingual usage in
| countries such as Malaysia.
`----
http://www.openmalaysiablog.com/2007/01/bidirectional_m.html
Who is "Vendor"?
Related:
It struck a nerve....
The Formula Issue in Detail (ODF)
,----[ Quote ]
| The concerns that ISO 26300 does not support Spreadsheet Formulas
| was a peculiar one. This commentary will show where this
| misunderstanding originates from***, and will hope to allay the
| fears. It will also go in technical detail in the two examples
| brought about from the Public Comment and TC4 presentation.
| Ultimately this commentary will dispel the myth that ISO 26300
| does not support Spreadsheet Formulas....We can conclude now that
| ISO 26300 does clearly specify a standard in describing formula
| specification, and the specification is not flawed in any way. As
| such we can continue to adopt ISO 26300 as a Malaysian Standard....I
| would fully recommend Malaysia to adopt this mature standard as a
| National Standard to increase the interoperability between the many
| office suites to provide more choice and competition for us users.
`----
http://www.openmalaysiablog.com/2006/11/the_formula_iss.html
Open Source Foes In Bed With Abramoff
,----[ Quote ]
| "Citizens Against Government Waste has said some highly critical things
| about open source software in the past. They've also pounced on supporters
| of the OpenDocument Format along the way. Alas, it seems their close ties
| to Jack Abramoff have drawn the (unfavorable) attention of Senate staff."
`----
http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/12/2036223&from=rss
Mass ITD Resolved Accessibility Issues, Adjusts ODF Rollout Details
,----[ Quote ]
| Now let's turn to Dana Blankenhorn's bizarre piece. First of all, Dana
| (who should know better) picks up and repeats the open source confusion,
| titling his piece Blind leading the way from open source.
|
| I'm sure this is just a hiccup, but apparently the blind have given
| Massachusetts' efforts to mandate open source the shaft. Because Open
| Document Format (ODF) software (Open Office) does not yet work with
| screen magnifiers, which make computer documents usable by those who
| are legally blind, the state of Massachusetts is
|
| This is an ancient piece of FUD (mandating open source) that has been
| perpetrated by ODF opponents, and it is discouraging to see it continue
| to appear in venues (such as ZDNet and TechWorld) that have credibility.
`----
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20060823131715736
Blind leading away from open source
,----[ Quote ]
| I'm sure this is just a hiccup, but apparently the blind have given
| Massachusetts' efforts to mandate open source the shaft.
|
| Because Open Document Format (ODF) software (Open Office) does not yet
| work with screen magnifiers, which make computer documents usable by
| those who are legally blind, the state of Massachusetts is backing-away
| from its commitment to mandate the format.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=755
Microsoft plays Massachusetts Senate card
OpenDocument not a done deal yet
,----[ Quote ]
| Accusations are rife that the software giant Microsoft has not given up
| on getting rid of the State of Massachusetts's plans to shift all its
| documents to the open source standard OpenDocument (ODF).
|
| Last week an amendment which would have would have removed the power of
| the State to set state wide IT standards and enabled the ODF project to
| be killed off was dropped. This lead many to believe that the ODF was a
| done deal.
|
| However, this week Vole gave Massachusetts high schools and universities
| more than splashed out more than $30 million worth of IT gear. This works
| out at $800 per student, and $2,400 per college kid. This is a huge amount
| of dosh, by education donation standards, in what is a very small US
| State.
|
| [...]
|
| Nothing wins votes more than being able to cut your budget thanks to a
| hefty donation from a big corporate donor, while at the same time Vole
| gets what it wants by somewhat unpublicised means.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32515
MS leads lobby against open source (2002)
,----[ Quote ]
| "Microsoft and other software companies are ramping up a lobbying
| effort aimed at convincing governments to think again where it
| comes to adopting open-source software. The Initiative for Software
| Choice, which launched quietly in early May, is chaired by an
| industry body called the Computer Technology Industry Association
| (CompTIA), but its biggest software industry backer is Microsoft."
`----
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-949527.html
MA Governor-Elect Names MS Anti-ODF Lobbyist to Technology Advisory Group
,----[ Quote ]
| That person is Brian Burke, the Microsoft Regional Director for Public
| Affairs, and if that surprises you, it surprises me as well, given the
| degree of acrimonious debate and disinformation witnessed in Massachusetts
| over the last 15 months involving the Information Technology Division's
| transition to ODF.... it is my understanding that it was Burke who led
| the lobbying effort on Beacon Hill against ODF, and also urged legislators
| to introduce the amendment intended to take away much of the ITD's
| planning power generally, and as regards standards specifically, and hand
| it to a task force made up of political appointees.... Although I'm told
| that Burke announced yesterday at the first meeting of the new working
| group that he will be participating as a private citizen rather than a
| Microsoft employee, I believe that Burke should recuse himself from
| participating in any discussions or recommendations relating to
| document format standards.
`----
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20061128161343183
The Sorry State of Massachusetts
,----[ Quote ]
| So for now, that's the sorry state of affairs in Massachusetts, the
| place where the grand ODF adventure was first given public life more
| than a year ago. Happily, the wider process of adoption to which
| Massachusetts gave birth is continuing globally. Perhaps some day
| the bickering legislators on Beacon Hill will get back on the bus.
`----
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=2006111603531029
,----[ Quote ]
| Quinn: Almost to a person, to anybody involved or who knows about
| the ODF issue, they attributed the story to Microsoft, right, wrong
| or otherwise. Senator Pacheco may be a bully but I do not believe he
| is disingenious and would stoop to such a tactic. Senator Pacheco and
| Secretary Galvin's office remain very heavily influenced by the
| Microsoft money and its lobbyist machine, as witnessed by their
| playbook and words, in my opinion.
|
| Quinn: I believe that the ODF decision will stand. I believe MS
| will continue to do anything and everything it can to stop it. And I
| know my seat wasn't even empty and they (MS) took another shot at
| the title, to no avail. This horse is out of the barn and I see no
| way for it to go back in. Remember, all we are asking for was and is
| for Microsoft to commit to open and the standards process; so
| everyone looks really bad if the plug gets pulled at this juncture.
`----
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060119232859729
Politics and tech companies: follow the money
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft took first place with $651,100 given out, while
| Hewlett-Packard gave only $185,550, and Gateway gave a paltry
| $2,000. Microsoft's donations certainly illustrate well the true
| size of the company and the extent of its political concerns.
|
| [...]
|
| For instance, Microsoft's PAC spent $1.7 million in the 2006 election
| cycle, but only a third of this went to federal candidates. What
| happened to the rest? It went to local campaigns, paid out a few
| thousand dollars at a time to groups like "Boal for Iowa House" in
| Ankeny, IA. It also funded other PACs like the "Associated Republicans
| of Texas" and the "Blue Dog Political Action Committee." No race is
| apparently too small to be funded; even Indiana State Representative
| Terri Austin of Anderson, IN got $500.
| Lobbyists
|
| But the real money isn't even given to the candidates directly. It
| goes to lobbyists, which can be safer investments since they stand no
| chance of losing at the polls. The complete-year figures from 2005
| show that Microsoft spent $8.7 million on lobbyist expenses. Almost
| a million dollars of that money went to Covington & Burling, a
| lobbying firm that also represents the National Football League and
| the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America. Microsoft's
| total spending on lobbying has risen substantially from the $4
| million it spent in 1998.
|
| [...]
|
| Where does it come from?
|
| Although some of this money comes from large employee donations,
| most of it does not. Take Microsoft, for instance; the Center for
| Responsive Politics says that the company received only $302,599
| from individual donors who gave more than $200 in this election
| cycle, only a small fraction of the $1.7 million actually spent.
| As is typical, much of this money came from the company's top
| brass, while the rest was made up of small contributions.
|
| The maximum individual contribution to a PAC is $5,000 a year.
| Melinda, whose occupation is listed in Federal Election Commission
| records as "homemaker," regularly contributes this amount, as does
| Bill. Steve Ballmer coughed up, too. Microsoft can use general
| company funds to support the PAC and its operations, but cannot
| give directly to candidates.
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8194.html
Years of deadlock on EU patent bring some new thinking
,----[ Quote ]
| When Bill Gates visits Brussels on Thursday to speak with
| government officials, software developers and customers, he
| plans to wade into one of Europe's longest-running, most
| fruitless debates: the pursuit of a unified patent system.
| Gates, chairman of Microsoft, wants a simple system that will
| allow the world's largest software maker and other companies
| to protect their intellectual property in the European Union -
| and profit from licensing their patents.
`----
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/11/08/business/patents.php
,----[ Quote ]
| "A source that deals with the company said unofficially that Gates
| proposed Microsoft's Digital Rights Management technology as a national
| standard to fight piracy at the governmental level."
`----
http://www.kommersant.com/p719683/r_528/
Leaked letter warns of open source 'threat to eco-system'
,----[ Quote ]
| leaked letter to the European Commission has revealed the extent of
| lobbying by proprietary software groups to prevent the widespread
| adoption of open-source software.
|
| Sent in response to a recent report on the role of open-source
| software in the European economy, Microsoft-funded pressure
| group, the Initiative for Software Choice (ISC) warned of
| potentially dire effects if too much encouragement was given
| to open source software development.
`----
http://www.techworld.com/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=7109
Study: open source needs official support; Lobbyist
disagrees with "flawed" conclusions
,----[ Quote ]
| The study, commissioned by the European Commission, Directorate
| General Enterprise and Industry, is but a small part of the larger
| FLOSSPOLS project that aims to keep the EU a leader in global
| development of open source software.
|
| [...]
|
| Now, the ISC is widely regarded as a shill for Microsoft, although
| the member list also includes companies like Intel, Autodesk, and
| RSA Security (now an EMC subsidiary). The 300-strong member list is
| mostly padded with lesser lights such as Yapi ve Kredi Bankasi(
| Turkey), ThreeSixtyDegreez (Pakistan), and Datoprogrammu Apgads
| (Latvia). The institute pushes hard for the right to patent
| software, alongside regular bashings of open source businesses.
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061017-8011.html
Report Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff
,----[ Quote ]
| E-mails released by the committee show that Abramoff, often
| with the knowledge of the groups' leaders, exploited the tax-exempt
| status and leveraged the stature of the organizations to build
| support among conservatives for legislation or government action
| sought by clients including Microsoft Corp., mutual fund company
| DH2 Inc., Primedia Inc.'s Channel One Network, and Brown-Forman,
| maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey.
`----
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200889.html
http://tinyurl.com/y2rbpu
EU official joins consultancy serving Microsoft
http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?view=CN&storyID=2006-10-03T134311Z_01_L03693228_RTRIDST_0_TECH-MICROSOFT-OFFICIAL.XML&rpc=66&type=qcna
http://tinyurl.com/h47g3
US ambassador to the EU was former Microsoft lobbyist
,----[ Quote ]
| Before C. Boyden Gray was named as George Bush's number one person in
| Europe, he was a lawyer lobbying on behalf of Microsoft.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34706
US politicians go to bat for Microsoft
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/26/microsoft_eu_political_lobbying/
Changing the Report, After the Vote
,----[ Quote ]
| That agreement was nearly imperiled last weekend, though. Gerri
| Elliott, corporate vice president at Microsoft's Worldwide Public
| Sector division, sent an e-mail message to fellow commissioners
| Friday evening saying that she "vigorously" objected to a paragraph
| in which the panel embraced and encouraged the development of open
| source software and open content projects in higher education.
`----
http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/09/01/commission
|
|
