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| outdated – with the BSI's recent decision to vote in favour of Microsoft's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
Challenges coming to ISO Open XML vote?
,----[ Quote ]
| Now that Office Open XML (OOXML) has been certified as an ISO standard, there
| is a possibility that the vote leading to that result will be challenged. It
| seems Microsoft is already counting on it.
`----
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9909065-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Related:
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/
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.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=42106
|
|
