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Microsoft spits out ODF plans for Office 2007 SP2
,----[ Quote ]
| Even the European Commission questioned Microsoft’s intentions. After all, it
| had been dogged by less-than-pretty grumbles from a range of opponents about
| the software giant’s campaign to get its contentious Office Open XML (OOXML)
| document format approved as an international standard at the second time of
| trying.
|
| EC regulators said they would investigate whether that announcement really
| did mean "better interoperability", allowing customers "to process and
| exchange their documents with the software product of their choice".
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/16/microsoft_office_2007_sp2_odf_support/
OOXML crimes don't 'expire'.
This article also mentions Doug Mahugh without mentioning the disgraceful
things he did.
Microsoft executives ought to have been sentenced to prison for the things they
did.
Related:
An Open Letter to LITD15 committee of BIS
,----[ Quote ]
| On 20th March 2008, the LITD15 committee of the Bureau of Indian Standards
| voted against Microsoft's proposed OOXML standard. 29th March 2008 was the
| last date for participating countries to vote on OOXML. In the interval
| between these two dates, Microsoft went to the Prime Minister of India and
| alleged that this committee acted against the national interest. Fortunately,
| the Indian bureaucrats who met the PM did a good job of defending the
| committee's vote against OOXML.
|
| Prof. DB Phatak of IIT Bombay recently wrote a mail to the LITD15 committee
| saying that, "In my opinion, these actions go well beyond the behavioral
| boundaries for a commercial entity, some of these amounting to interfering
| with the governance process of a sovereign country." IIT Bombay was a member
| of the LITD15 committee and Prof. Phatak was part of a four-member team at
| IIT Bombay that did a very intense review of OOXML before the institute voted
| against OOXML. While Prof. Phatak is a great supporter of open source, he
| also has a great reputation for being fair and balanced.
|
| [...]
|
| As a committee member, I would like to place on record my deep disappointment
| at the fact that Microsoft chose to question the decision of this committee
| at the highest office of our country. For over a year, we have reviewed the
| proposed standard with a fine tooth comb. Every opportunity was given to
| Microsoft to put their points across. At every meeting they brought a
| disproportionate number of participants along; some of these participants
| were not even Indian nationals. I think the committee as a whole was very
| courteous in accommodating all this but drew the line when this began to
| detract from the functioning of the committee. The only words that came to my
| mind when I heard that Microsoft's complaint had prompted the Prime Minister
| of my country to review this committee's decision was "stabbed-in-the-back."
| This was a great disservice to this committee and the country and I hope this
| never happens again.
|
| [...]
|
| Standards cannot (and should not) be created in a technical vaccum. Without a
| moral and ethical framework, we cannot create standards that benefit
| humanity. Mahatma Gandhi summed it up best when he said that, “Real swaraj
| will come not by the acquisition of authority by a few but by the acquisition
| of capacity by all.” I believe that this committee should be focused solely
| on the user's swaraj (freedom) to encode and decode their data.
`----
http://osindia.blogspot.com/2008/04/open-letter-to-litd15-committee-of-bis.html
Microsoft embraces and extends server promiscuity
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft of course has a long way to go before it can match market VMware
| for virt. technology or market share. But "deep integration" with
| SystemCenter is the key to how it will play catch-up. And if it fails, the
| company will certainly hasten the day that VMWare will have to lower its
| prices.
|
| [...]
|
| A third principle is to encourage data portability, so that customers can
| move their data, without let or hindrance. That is entirely admirable, but
| the way Microsoft is working to ensure this, by way of a fourth principle -
| to work with all the software standards bodies on God's planet - is the stuff
| of battlefields, as this year's furore over Open XML shows. Microsoft is
| content to work behind the scenes, while its rivals cry foul.
|
| When the rivals stop shouting, we will know that Microsoft truly is fully
| interoperable and is seen to be fully interoperable. In the meantime, we look
| forward to reporting the bush wars for many years to come.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/29/microsoft_muglia_system_center_interoperability/
Microsoft wins Open XML vote, frowns at Indian panel
,----[ Quote ]
| Industry experts said they were "unhappy" with the Microsoft which has almost
| accused the committee of being packed with "open document format (ODF)
| supporters".
|
| "I am very upset and uncomfortable with such complaints. In fact, the
| chairperson of the committee (LITD 15) offered to step down over the
| allegation," D.B. Phatak, professor at IIT Mumbai, told DNA Money.
|
| IIT Mumbai is a member of LITD 15, and Phatak was part of the deliberations
| that have been taking place within IIT on the issue.
|
| Phatak said a Microsoft official was asked if it would withdraw the
| complaint, but the company refused as the "complaint was made by some higher
| officer in Microsoft".
|
| Jaijit Bhattacharya, country director of government strategy for Sun
| Microsystems India, a company that has been at loggerheads with Microsoft for
| years, talks in a similar vein.
|
| "I am surprised that such allegations are made against India's top academic
| and government institutions … such allegations lack credibility,'
| Bhattacharya said. Venkatesh Hariharan, co-founder Open Source Foundation of
| India said, "I am just amazed and shocked at the depths to which Microsoft is
| willing to descend."
|
| He said Microsoft's complaint is a "great disservice to the committee, its
| chairperson and the BIS".
`----
http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14636329
OOXML: decision time is nigh
,----[ Quote ]
| Wipro, Infosys and TCS are the three big companies that accept business
| process outsourcing from the American and other markets, hence their vote for
| Microsoft is not a surprise at all. These are companies that maintain the
| status quo, conservative to the core and willing to do the bidding of the
| piper. Nasscom represents the interests of the bigger IT companies and it
| probably had no choice but to fall in line.
`----
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17353/1148/
Microsoft files complaint on OOXML vote to apex office and Ministry of Consumer
Affairs
,----[ Quote ]
| At the meeting held on 20th March 2008, we were informed that Microsoft has
| complained to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and to the apex office of the
| country about the constitution of the committee and also cast aspersions on
| the impartiality of the chairperson of LITD15, Mrs. Neeta Verma. The
| chairperson was furious and offered to step down from her post. She pointed
| out that the committee has met numerous times and Microsoft never brought
| this issue up in front of the committee nor did they check the facts with her
| or her organization before complaining to the apex office.
`----
http://osindia.blogspot.com/2008/03/microsoft-files-complaint-on-ooxml-vote.html
Should India change its vote No vote for OOXML? - please?
,----[ Quote ]
| Well done to the Bureau of Indian Standards for standing firm against this
| raging bully. Hopefully one day the bully will learn how to play fair and
| contribute positively to the standards process, and not try to manipulate its
| way in.
|
| Truly despicable behaviour. Shame on you, Microsoft, yet again. How will we
| ever trust you?
`----
http://www.openmalaysiablog.com/2008/03/should-india-ch.html
Steve Ballmer was in India?
,----[ Quote ]
| Interestingly, that was the day when BIS met to discuss OOXML. For those who
| have been following this issue, India's final vote on the subject will be on
| 20th May 2008. Talk about timing!
`----
http://osindia.blogspot.com/2008/03/steve-ballmer-was-in-india.html
Microsoft influencing partner NGOs to support OOXML in India
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is encouraging its business partners to promote its Office Open XML
| specification (OOXML) to the Indian Bureau of Standards (BIS) and Ministry of
| IT. This move has incensed supporters of the rival OpenDocument Format (ODF)
| who fear that the "soft" Indian state may not be able to stand up to
| Microsoft pressure tactics.
`----
http://www.linux.com/feature/128528
Microsoft India using NGOs to fake support for OOXML
http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-44038/microsoft-india-using-ngos-to-fake-support-for-ooxml
Becoming a better company: Microsoft helps NGOs in India
,----[ Quote ]
| Of course, there has to be some trade-offs, because there should never be
| free lunch, even for the ones who starve: Microsoft, according to this
| article, has conditioned its help to Indian NGOs to their support of OOXML.
| What the NGOs had to do was to send letters of support on OOXML to the
| federal government of India.
`----
http://standardsandfreedom.net/index.php/2008/02/29/becoming-a-better-company-microsoft-helps-ngos-in-india/
Microsoft "persuades" NGOs to support OOXML
,----[ Quote ]
| Our friends at Linux Delhi have put up a copy of the form letters that
| Microsoft has been sending NGOs on the OOXML issue. Apparently, these NGOs
| have been sending copies of these letters to the Ministry of IT and Bureau of
| Indian standards.
`----
http://osindia.blogspot.com/2008/02/microsoft-persuades-ngos-to-support.html
Developers around the world, unite!
,----[ Quote ]
| Monopoly and proprietary software have an advantage in influencing state and
| governmental institutions because of their large market base and ready
| capital. Unscrupulous ways of influencing state governments have persisted in
| India, for example, where executives of proprietary software cajole
| government heads to promote their brands in lieu of some form of charity
| given. FLOSS activists must overcome this huge challenge in order to get
| their philosophy accepted and model implemented for the good of people who
| are still on the barren side of the digital divide.
`----
http://thepost.com.pk/OpinionNews.aspx?dtlid=147277&catid=11
Using NGOs to Push Agendas
,----[ Quote ]
| The extent to which Microsoft can go in its efforts to get OOXML is
| interesting. Microsoft has "persuaded" several non-profit organizations to
| bombard the Indian IT Secretary and the Additional Director General of the
| Bureau of Indian Standards with letters supporting its OOXML proposal. A copy
| of the form letter they have been circulating to NGOs is given below.
| Somebody should interview these NGOs to see how much they really know about
| OOXML and open standards.
|
| The sequence of events leading up to the spamming of GoI? is:
|
| Letter from an NGO thanking Microsoft (name changed to protect their
| identity)
`----
http://wiki.linux-delhi.org/cgi-bin/twiki/view/OpenStandards/MsNgoLobby
Wipro Microsoft alliance is a shame for all Indians – alliance or slavery?
,----[ Quote ]
| The alliance uses Microsoft technologies instead of challenging Gates in his
| own game. Wipro is just a servant of Microsoft facilitating Indian cyber
| slavery under the American corporate banners.
`----
http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/19365.asp
An Open Letter to Wipro, Infosys and TCS
,----[ Quote ]
| This letter is to express our deep disappointment over your open support to
| the OOXML format forced through ISO by Microsoft. Being the top IT giants and
| thus the representatives of the IT industry in the country, it is a great
| shock to us that you do not stand with academia of the country and its
| representatives like the IITs, IIMs and IISc in supporting the Open Document
| Format (ODF) which is a true Free and Open Standard already recognised as an
| ISO Standard. Considering that a major portion of your employees come from
| such institutions, it is a wonder to us that you have decided to go ahead
| with this decisions.
`----
http://www.fossmeet.in/node/128
Candle Light Vigil for Document Freedom
,----[ Quote ]
| The Candle light vigil demands India to appeal ISO approval of ooxml based on
| its comments and no vote. We also demands the Department of IT to draft a
| clear national policy for the use of Free standards for data storage.
|
| This programme is planned as a starting point for various events & awareness
| campaigns on Document freedom.
`----
http://fci.wikia.com/wiki/Campaign_for_Document_Freedom#Candle_Light_Vigil_for_Document_Freedom
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