Groklaw has an article that OpenXML is back on the fast-track for ISO certification, ignoring an usually high number of objections from various countries:
*She* decided? So the objections process is an elaborate waltz with no purpose? Why even have such a process if Microsoft can push its will forward anyway? Are there no standards for standards? Andrew Updegrove addressed that question recently, and his answer was, not so much. What is wrong with this picture?
Groklaw also describes some of the intimidation tactics Microsoft has been using against companies and governmental bodies. It appears that Microsoft is using its power trying to ram OpenXML down ISO’s throat, which provides a back-door into many national and international definitions of Open Standards.
While there will be another vote on the issue, it is not clear whether this will actually amount to much, because it seems that such processes can be ignored by lone decisions of the ISO personnel. This sounds oddly reminiscent of the software patent scandal when the input of the European parliament was entirely discarded.
Any structure with such single points of failure provides unique opportunities for "personal decision improvement," it seems.
We will need to analyse the next steps. Meanwhile it is important to keep spreading the news about why OpenXML is truly a proprietary format.
