Strike One Against Microsoft
,----[ Quote ]
| The first pitch was thrown in Geneva last week at the ISO ballot resolution
| meetings on OOXML. And we can safely say: strike one! There was no
| renouncement of the OOXML standard by Microsoft. Instead, every indication
| was business as usual.
|
| [...]
|
| I, for one, would welcome some sunshine on the process and urge that ISO make
| the reported audio recordings of the Geneva meetings publicly available.
`----
http://www.press.redhat.com/2008/03/03/strike-one-against-microsoft/
This is already antitrust material. An investigation will be looking into this
whole corruption.
Last week:
European regulator fines Microsoft $1.35 billion
,----[ Quote ]
| In addition, Microsoft recently acknowledged that the commission is also
| looking into lobbying efforts for its Open XML file format, which has been
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| derided by critics as insufficiently accessible. Microsoft unsuccessfully
| sought last year to receive approval from the International Organization for
| Standardization, or ISO, to have Open XML declared an international standard.
`----
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/european-regulator-fines-microsoft-135/story.aspx?guid=%7B4421D497-DECC-41BF-9C86-E4C815C25241%7D
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 anNGO thanking Microsoft (name changed to protect their
| identity)
`----
http://wiki.linux-delhi.org/cgi-bin/twiki/view/OpenStandards/MsNgoLobby
|
|
