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Hello<br>
<br>
Goods news for interoperability and truly open standards.<br>
<br>
There is already one open standard ODF <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDocument">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDocument</a>,<br>
but Microsoft wants to propose its own :<br>
OOXML<br>
with an hidden agenda.<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ooxml">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ooxml</a><br>
<br>
The "fast track" procedure for Microsoft proposed standard <br>
has been rejected by the US delegation at ISO., <br>
even if it was by a slim margin,<br>
<br>
Canada, UK and Germany are against the fast track.<br>
<br>
China has already no to <br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-15827/china-says-ciao-ciao-to-ooxml-one-more-no">http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-15827/china-says-ciao-ciao-to-ooxml-one-more-no</a><br>
and now it is the turn of the US<br>
<br>
It is very likely that many countries that ware still wavering are going<br>
to reject the "fast track" procedure.<br>
<br>
There were tremendous efforts by many activists, and<br>
by Free Software organizations, against OOXML<br>
that must be acknowledged :<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.noooxml.org">http://www.noooxml.org</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.france.fsfeurope.org/documents/msooxml-questions">http://www.france.fsfeurope.org/documents/msooxml-questions</a><br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.april.org">http://www.april.org</a><br>
and many others<br>
<br>
<br>
-------------------------<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070811-microsoft-one-vote-short-of-fast-track-ooxml-iso-standardization.html">http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070811-microsoft-one-vote-short-of-fast-track-ooxml-iso-standardization.html</a><br>
<h1><a
href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070811-microsoft-one-vote-short-of-fast-track-ooxml-iso-standardization.html">Microsoft
one vote short of fast-track OOXML ISO standardization</a></h1>
<p class="Tag Full">By <a
href="http://arstechnica.com/authors.ars/segphault">Ryan Paul</a> |
Published: August 11, 2007 - 02:19PM CT </p>
<div class="Body">
<p>Executive board members of the International Committee for
Information
Technology Standards (INCITS), the organization that represents the
United States in ISO standardization deliberations, recently held an
internal <a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=vote&committee=INCITS&ballot_id=2212">poll</a>
to determine the position that the United States should take on
Microsoft's request for Office Open XML (OOXML) approval. With eight
votes in favor, seven against, and one abstention, the group was one
vote short of the nine votes required for approving OOXML ISO
standardization. This does not mean that OOXML is dead in the water,
however.
</p>
<div class="Inset RelatedStories">
<h3><span class="Replace">Related Stories</span></h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061204-8349.html">Open
Document Format published as ISO standard</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p>
As we have <a
href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070726-office-open-xml-iso-certification-process-grows-even-murkier-for-microsoft.html">previously
reported</a>,
many ISO member nations are similarly rejecting the OOXML fast-track
proposal. Although this is a considerable setback for Microsoft, it
merely slows down the ISO standardization process for OOXML; it does
not halt it completely. Now we are in for a protracted debate as
standards organizations around the world engage in broad discussion and
conduct analysis of the controversial document format.
</p>
<p>Of the organizations that participated in the poll, Apple, the
Department of Homeland Security, EIA, EMC, HP, Intel, Microsoft, and
Sony all voted in favor of OOXML fast-track approval. Votes opposing
approval came from Farance, GS1 US, IBM, Lexmark, NIST, Oracle, and the
US Department of Defense. IEEE—which is comprised of numerous
organizations including the companies that are on the INCITS executive
board—abstained, citing internal disagreement.
</p>
<p>NIST's vote opposing OOXML fast-track approval may seem peculiar in
light of a statement issued by the organization affirming "conditional"
support for the OOXML format. We contacted NIST for clarification on
the organization's position. NIST representative Ben Stein responded by
drawing our attention to section 9.8 of the ISO/IEC JTC 1 <a
href="http://isotc.iso.org/livelink/livelink/fetch/2000/2122/327993/327973/JTC_1_Directives_Ed_3__2007.pdf?nodeid=6182390&vernum=0">procedural
documentation</a>, which notes that "conditional approval should be
submitted as a disapproval vote."
</p>
<p>
Standards expert Andy Updegrove provides more insight into NIST's
position in a <a
href="http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20070810112044631">blog
entry</a>.
As Updegrove explains, a vote of approval with comments is procedurally
equivalent to unconditional approval, because it doesn't necessitate
evaluation of comments and criticisms. Organizations that wish to make
approval contingent on fulfillment of specific criteria necessarily
have to vote against fast-track approval.
</p>
<p>Looking at the comments issued with the votes, it appears as though
several other organizations that voted against fast-track approval
share NIST's position. Oracle's official comment, for instance, states
that INCITS should "make approval of the [OOXML] specification
conditional upon the satisfactory resolution of the large number of
issues identified during the public review period." Likewise, the US
Department of Defense—which also voted against fast-track
approval—states that its position "is based on the requirement to first
resolve existing comments and further develop/mature the present state
of the standard." The Department of Defense cites several potential
problems with the OOXML standard, including the use of binary
information that "would lead to security concerns," references to
undocumented backward compatibility formatting features that some have
argued could potentially impede third-party implementation of the
standard, and "the use of proprietary file formats within the open
standard [that] appear to cause potential intellectual property
ownership concerns."
</p>
<p>Given the controversial nature, relative complexity, and significant
importance of the standard, the results of INCIT's vote is
unsurprising. An INCITS technical committee also <a
href="http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070717-office-xml-hits-a-snag-on-the-way-to-iso-standardization.html">voted
against</a>
fast-track OOXML approval last month prior to the executive board's
vote. Further deliberation is clearly needed as well as further
refinement of the format. It seems as though many of the organizations
participating in the approval process are generally supportive of the
standard itself, but are unwilling to voice unconditional support until
their concerns are resolved. OOXML may be down, but it's certainly not
out</p>
</div>
<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=vote&committee=INCITS&ballot_id=2212">http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=vote&committee=INCITS&ballot_id=2212</a><br>
<br>
<p>Below is the vote tally for Letter Ballot INCITSLB2212.</p>
<p>To view an individual organization's response, along with any
comments or reason for abstention, click on the organization name below.</p>
<center>
<table border="0" cellpadding="2">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th align="center" bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" width="80"><font
color="#ffffff">Date</font></th>
<th align="left" bgcolor="#000000" valign="top"><font
color="#ffffff">Organization</font></th>
<th bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" width="60"><font
color="#ffffff">Yes</font></th>
<th bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" width="60"><font
color="#ffffff">No</font></th>
<th bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" width="60"><font
color="#ffffff">Abstain</font></th>
<th bgcolor="#000000" valign="top" width="60"><font
color="#ffffff">Not Yet </font></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" align="center" valign="top"><b>TOTAL</b></td>
<td align="center" valign="top">8</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">7</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">1</td>
<td align="center" valign="top">0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">07/27/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113255">Apple
Inc</a></td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">08/10/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113264">Department
of Homeland Security</a></td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113264">Comments</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">08/09/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113258">Electronic
Industries Alliance</a></td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">07/20/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113263">EMC</a></td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">08/10/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113256">Farance,
Incorporated</a></td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113256">Comments</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">08/10/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113261">GS1
US</a></td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113261">Comments</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">08/08/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113253">Hewlett
Packard Co</a></td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113253">Comments</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">08/06/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113252">IBM
Corp</a></td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113252">Comments</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">08/09/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113251">IEEE</a></td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113251">Comments</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">08/09/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113260">Intel</a></td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">08/08/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113265">Lexmark
International</a></td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113265">Comments</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">08/08/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113262">Microsoft</a></td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113262">Comments</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">08/09/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113254">NIST</a></td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113254">Comments</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">08/10/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113257">Oracle</a></td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113257">Comments</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">07/24/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113259">Sony
Electronics</a></td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td align="left">08/09/2007 00:00:00</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113266">US
Department of Defense</a></td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center">X</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="center"><br>
</td>
<td align="left"><a
href="http://ballot.itic.org/itic/tallyvote.taf?function=detail&response_id=113266">Comments</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</center>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
------------------------------------------------------
Francis F. MUGUET Ph.D
MDPI Foundation Open Access Journals
Associate Publisher
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.mdpi.org">http://www.mdpi.org</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.mdpi.net">http://www.mdpi.net</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:muguet@mdpi.org">muguet@mdpi.org</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:muguet@mdpi.net">muguet@mdpi.net</a>
ENSTA Paris, France
KNIS lab. Director
"Knowledge Networks & Information Society" (KNIS)
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:muguet@ensta.fr">muguet@ensta.fr</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.ensta.fr/~muguet">http://www.ensta.fr/~muguet</a>
World Summit On the Information Society (WSIS)
Civil Society Working Groups
Scientific Information : <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.wsis-si.org">http://www.wsis-si.org</a> chair
Patents & Copyrights : <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.wsis-pct.org">http://www.wsis-pct.org</a> co-chair
Financing Mechanismns : <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.wsis-finance.org">http://www.wsis-finance.org</a> web
UNMSP project : <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.unmsp.org">http://www.unmsp.org</a>
WTIS initiative: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.wtis.org">http://www.wtis.org</a>
------------------------------------------------------
</pre>
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