What to do with ISO and OOXML?
So, FSFE is concerned about the ISO process, but the ISO process is not over, and the ISO process is not the only process. First, ISO endorsement does not automatically lead to endorsement by national governments. Second, there are still two months during which the ISO votes can be contested – and there are already a lot of allegations of voting irregularities.
The national level
Sometime in the future, separate to the ISO vote, each country will make its own decision to accept/reject the ODF and OOXML standards. Many countries have already accepted ODF.
Voting irregularities
OOXML needed 22 votes out of 32 to be approved. It got 24 because a lot of countries changed their vote in the last few days. Now there are numerous complaints about those votes. If 3 of those "approve" were changed back to "disapprove" in the next two months, then OOXML would be denied ISO certification.
- The European Commission is allegedly investigating Poland‘s standardisation process
- A complaint has been lodged in Norway by the standards committee chairman
- OSC plans to submit a complaint in the United Kingdom
- Problems in Germany and Croatia
UPDATE: Computerworld is carrying an article saying that the European Commission started investigating Microsoft’s participation in February, and this story is also on CNet.
Noooxml.org also have a page of irregularities, and more stories will surely appear on Groklaw.
Related press releases
And, for what it’s worth, here’s a list of some press releases from organisations who were also against OOXML.
- ODF Alliance Statement on the ISO Vote on OOXML
- ISO captured by vendor Microsoft, from FFII
- OFE statement on the DIS29500 ISO Vote
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Ciarán O’Riordan,
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