Open Forum Europe Conclusions
,----[ Quote ]
| European Organisations Sign Up to Declaration on the Future of the Internet
|
| Recognising the dangers that loss of Openness of the Internet could mean, the
| signatories of this Declaration call upon the European Commission, National
| Governments, Standards Bodies, Industry, the Community and the Market:
|
| * To collaborate such that the Internet remains fully open, without
| proprietary pressure, and based on Open Standards.
|
| * For clarity within the role of standards bodies to ensure the avoidance
| of competing standards which will inhibit competition and loss of
| innovation.
|
| * To mandate the use of Open Standards for interoperability.
|
| * To drive up the quality, transparency and perceived independence of the
| Standards development and approval process, both at International and
| National level.
|
| * To establish a clear link between the public interest and work of
| standardisation bodies.”
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http://www.openforumeurope.org/geneva
It really looks like Microsoft (+partners) against the rest of the world.
Recent:
Probe into votes on Microsoft standard
,----[ Quote ]
| The European Commission is investigating the process under which a key
| Microsoft document format could be adopted as an industry standard - a move
| that would carry significant commercial benefits for the software company.
|
| Officials at the European Commission's competition directorate have written
| to members of the International Organisation for Standardisation, asking how
| they prepared for votes in September and later this month on acceptance of
| Microsoft's OOXML document format as a worldwide standard. Without ISO
| acceptance, Microsoft could stand to lose business, particularly with
| government clients, some of which are becoming increasingly keen to use only
| ISO-certified software.
|
| The ISO process has been widely criticised, however, with some members of
| national standards' bodies accusing Microsoft and its rivals of attempting to
| influence the vote.
|
| Tim Bray, a member of the Canadian national standards body, called the
| procedure "complete, utter, unadulterated bullshit" in a recent blog posting.
|
| [...]
|
| In addition, in several countries, a large number of Microsoft partners
| joined the national standards organisations just ahead of a vote on the issue
| in September.
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft said it openly encouraged its partners to participate in the ISO
| process, but was not funding any third parties doing so. The company said it
| would cooperate with the European Commission's inquiry.
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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/88e570a2-ea56-11dc-b3c9-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
What does the world have to gain from rushing OOXML through ISO?
,----[ Quote ]
| So, why is it rushed? Well, let’s see.
|
| The only ones really pushing for this to happen faster rather than carefully
| are Microsoft and Ecma.
|
| In the case of Ecma it is easy to see why. Ecma is nothing more than a rubber
| stamping organization for hire with no soul, which is pushing for OOXML to go
| through as fast as possible and with as little change as possible simply
| because this is what it is paid to do. This is what their “value proposition”
| is all about: ‘timely publication of international standards […] “fast track”
| […] minimize risk of change‘.
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http://lehors.wordpress.com/2008/03/04/what-does-the-world-have-to-gain-from-rushing-ooxml-through-iso/
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