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Microsoft, OOXML and the ISO
,----[ Quote ]
| Taken individually, these dubious actions might be dismissed by Microsoft
| as “minor lapses”, “misunderstandings” or actions of an atypical “rogue”
| manager – as was done in Sweden, where an offer was made to support partners
| financially if they attended the key meeting of the national body and voted
| in favour of OOXML. But taken together they suggest a consistent philosophy
| of being prepared to use whatever means necessary in order to gain the
| required number of votes.
|
| Since there are very few laws relevant to this field, I doubt whether
| Microsoft has broken any with its actions during the ISO standardisation
| process, either through those already disclosed, or others that may come come
| to light (although the European Commission may have its own views on this).
| But as well as the letter of the law, the spirit matters too, and I would be
| interested to hear to what extent, against a background of skewed committees,
| misrepresentations and overt pressure, Microsoft thinks it adhered to the
| spirit of the collegial, consensus-based standards-making process in finally
| obtaining that much-coveted “win” for OOXML.
`----
http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/microsoft-ooxml-and-iso
[PJ: First, it's a fact that the EU Commission announced it is investigating
that very question of how Microsoft conducted itself. It is not investigating
any other company in connection with the OOXML saga. And I suggest Glyn take a
look at Groklaw's ODF/OOXML page, where I believe he can find everything he
needs in the way of resources to get up to speed.] - Glyn Moody, Linux
Journal
http://identi.ca/notice/6402683
RT @glynmoody Microsoft, OOXML and the ISO - http://bit.ly/CabLJ long feature,
now sent to Microsoft for their reply #microsoft #ooxml #iso
Related:
Microsoft Looks for the Big Guns in OOXML In-Fighting
,----[ Quote ]
| Bill Gates has reportedly been making phone calls to the Secretary of Defense
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| and the Secretary of Commerce to push the American National Standards
| Institute to ignore the votes of its advisory committees and vote "yes" on
| ISO standardizing Microsoft's Open Office XML (OOXML) format, the one in
| competition with the OpenDocument Format (ODF) pushed by IBM and Sun.
|
| Gates reportedly picked up the phone when the last INCITS ballot failed by
| one vote to support Microsoft.
`----
http://xml.sys-con.com/read/419573_p.htm
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
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
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