EU investigation into Open XML vote still ongoing
,----[ Quote ]
| The effort stems from a complaint lodged by anti-Microsoft lobbying group
| ECIS (European Commission for Interoperable Systems). The Commission said in
| January that it is exploring whether the Open XML file formats are
| sufficiently interoperable with competitors' products.
|
| The Wall Street Journal in February reported that the investigation had
| started.
| In a letter seen by CNET News.com, European regulators queried the national
| standards body in Norway to gain details into the local standardization
| process. Specifically, the European Commission sought information on attempts
| to influence the debate or vote over the standards proposal.
|
| In response, Standards Norway said there was heated debate but not
| any "inappropriate behavior that endangered our process," according to a
| document seen by CNET News.com.
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http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9909499-7.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=NewsBlog
Lots of damage done to Microsoft's image and legal status:
What the OOXML fiasco can teach us
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft's promises about changing its skin (becoming more "open") fit this
| patterm very well. But after the company, using methods that can only be
| described as dubious, muscled through its Office Open XML document format as
| an ISO standard, no-one will ever be able to claim that it has changed in any
| way since it was set up in 1975.
|
| It has always used tactics like this - winning is important and it doesn't
| matter how one does it. There are plenty of promises at the start but then
| when it comes down to the knuckle-duster stage, the ugly side of Redmond
| manifests itself and it's a win-at-all-costs game. After that, we get pious
| statements.
`----
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17458/1090/
[Sarcasm] Congrats to the OOXML Team!
,----[ Quote ]
| Thanks Microsoft, for demonstrating just how far you are willing to go to get
| your way in the marketplace. Having determined that your format could not be
| approved on technical merit, you blatantly gamed the ISO system to push it
| through anyway. Good for you.
|
| Now you have given the world a standard that is cumbersome, possibly broken,
| and very likely not really open enough to be used by any company other than
| its author. Congratulations!
|
| Because now, like it or not, you will ultimately be held responsible for your
| actions. Entire nations are looking askance at this standard and your
| practices. Very soon, I believe, entire nations are going to start looking
| for alternatives to your brand of software lock-in, as they discover just
| how "good" OOXML really is.
`----
http://blog.linuxtoday.com/blog/archives/080402-100013.html
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
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.
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http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=42106
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