[A2k] AP: Microsoft Loses Vote on File Standards

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

>
> September 4, 2007
>
> Microsoft Loses Vote on File Standards
> By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
> Filed at 1:48 p.m. ET
> BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. has failed in a first step
> to win enough support to make the data format behind its flagship
> Office software a global standard, the International Standards
> Organization said Tuesday.
> This weekend's vote by national standards agencies from 104 nations
> did not provide the two-thirds majority needed to give Microsoft's
> format the ISO stamp of approval. But they will meet again in February
> to try to seek a consensus, and Microsoft could win them over at last.
> ISO approval for Microsoft's Open Office XML would encourage
> governments and libraries to recognize the format for archiving
> documents, which in turn could help ensure that people using different
> technologies in the future could still open and read documents written
> today in Open Office XML.
> Approval of its system as a standard would also help Microsoft tamp
> down competition from the OpenDocument Format, created by open source
> developers and pushed by such Microsoft rivals as IBM Corp.
> Massachusetts state government stirred huge interest in the matter
> when it advocated saving official documents for long-term storage in
> the nonproprietary ODF format. That prompted Microsoft to seek
> recognition of Open XML by the global standards body.
> The company has offered to license Open Office XML for free to anyone
> who wants to build products that access information stored in Office
> documents. It claims the format is richer than ODF because, being
> based on XML computer language, it can store the layout of
> spreadsheets and legal documents created with Office 2007.
> But Shane Coughlan of the Free Software Foundation Europe, a group of
> open source developers, questioned whether Open Office XML would truly
> live up to its name and be open to all. Coughlan said it was unclear
> whether some of the code requires Microsoft's permission to be used.
> ''It is important that everyone owns their data, that access does not
> depend on any one company,'' he said. ''Any serious corporation or
> government should be dubious about using it if the legality is
> unclear.''
> Publishing an open standard means it will be available to everyone, a
> sort of Rosetta stone that makes sure the key documents of today --
> whether they be legal texts, novels-in-progress or accounting
> spreadsheets -- don't become unreadable hieroglyphics to future
> generations.
> Despite losing the initial round of voting with ISO, Microsoft was
> confident of future success, saying many of the ISO members that did
> not vote for the format said they would do so when certain criticisms
> have been addressed.
> ''This preliminary vote is a milestone for the widespread adoption of
> the Open XML formats around the world for the benefit of millions of
> customers,'' said Microsoft's general manager for interoperability,
> Tom Robertson. ''We believe that the final tally in early 2008 will
> result in the ratification of Open XML as an ISO standard.''
> According to ISO, Microsoft had 53 percent of the votes in favor --
> instead of the 66 percent it needed.
> The ISO process is essentially a debate that tries to fix outstanding
> problems so a format can win sufficient support. But Coughlan said
> Microsoft's heavy lobbying for Open Office XML had showed that ISO
> selection needs to be reviewed to make sure one voice could not shout
> louder than others. Coughlan and others have alleged that Microsoft
> unduly influenced the industry committees that advise national
> standards bodies on ISO votes.
>
>
>

---------------------------------
Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
voice +41.22.791.6727
fax +41.22.723.2988
mobile +41 76 508 0997
thiru@keionline.org