[A2k] OOXML fails to get approval, but ISO process continues

[Vera Franz]

[ Converted text/html to text/plain ]
Congratulations to FFII, Open Forum Europe and the many, many others that have
worked on this successfully! The fight continues...
http://press.ffii.org/Press_releases/OOXML_fails_to_get_approval%2C_but_ISO_process_continues[1]

Brussels, 5 September 2007. The draft standard OOXML submitted by Microsoft
and ECMA has been rejected in a vote at ISO, reaching neither the required 2/3
majority among "participating countries" nor the required 3/4 majority among
all countries. However, ISO decided not to finish the procedure yet, but
instead to go for a ballot resolution meeting in February, where Microsoft
will attempt to present solutions to the numerous problems that have been
pointed out. If enough countries change their vote, the proposal still has a
chance to pass.

Several irregularities have been reported in the ISO process. These include
purchasing of votes in Sweden, admitted by Microsoft; rejection of Microsoft's
competitors in Portugal because of lack of chairs; hijacking of
standardisation committees in many countries, including USA, Italy, Colombia
and Mexico; manipulations of the vote process by presidencies in Switzerland
and Uruguay; replacement of an insufficiently Microsoft-friendly technical
committee by a "more agreeable" one in Poland; non-acceptance of competition
in Venezuela and Ukrania; and more. In general the process has been driven,
except in a minority of the countries, by attempts to put as many gold
partners as possible in the committee responsible.

Benjamin Henrion, leader of the FFII NoOOXML.org campaign, comments: "The
OOXML proposal is so poor that if anyone else had submitted it they would have
been laughed at. I don't understand why the ISO secretariat has not already
put it in the waste basket. The continuation of the process means more
scandals hurting the public image of ISO."

Alberto Barrionuevo, FFII vice president, agrees: "What is at stake is not so
much the fate of the inappropriately named 'Open XML' format, but ISO's
reputation. The fact that many ISO member bodies have approved of OOXML due to
severe manipulations suggests that the process needs to be overhauled. We
strongly recommend that ISO reconsiders its system and regulations."

Background Information

Microsoft has been pushing for adoption of its Microsoft Office file format as
an ISO standard. The format was adopted as ECMA 376, and ECMA subsequently
submitted it to ISO for fast-track (six-month) approval. An unprecedented
number of comments by ISO member bodies had been submitted in the first stage
of the process in February 2007.

More information, including the result of the ballot, is available in
http://www.NoOOXML.org/[2], FFII's web site campaign. The ballot results are
at are at http://www.NoOOXML.org/ballotresults[3].

See here for Open Forum Europe's press release:
http://www.openforumeurope.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=989&Itemid=1[4]



--
Vera Franz
Program Manager
Information Program
<www.soros.org/ip[5]>
Open Society Foundation
100, Cambridge Grove
London W6 0LE
phone +44 20 7031 0219
fax +44 20 7031 0247

===References:===
  1. http://press.ffii.org/Press_releases/OOXML_fails_to_get_approval%2C_but_ISO_process_continues
  2. http://www.NoOOXML.org/
  3. http://www.NoOOXML.org/ballotresults
  4. http://www.openforumeurope.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=989&Itemid=1
  5. http://www.soros.org/ip