The process to getting Microsoft's technical specification for electronic documents (OOXML) certified at the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is wrong, says Bob Sutor, IBM's vice president for Open Source and Standards in an interview with the German IT news site Heise. "Observers of the ISO process have realised that Microsoft is doing everything to get its mess certified."
In the (German) interview, Sutor strongly criticised the Microsoft specification. "It is bad technology, tied closely to products of its manufacturer and it may not be blessed as a standard easily."
ISO will vote on Microsoft's controversial specification in Geneva between February 25 and 29. Votes are cast by representatives of standardisation bodies from many countries. Microsoft has strong-armed the process, Sutor alleges. In many countries, the decision-making process was muddled, he told Heise. In Sweden Microsoft-partners swarmed the vote. In Portugal IBM was blocked from entering the room because there were not enough chairs. Sutor: "A change in the standardisation process is needed urgently."
Microsoft's OOXML specification lost a second round of votes at the ISO in September. According to Heise, national standardisation bodies from all over the world sent in 3522 requests for change in the six-thousand page specification. Microsoft sent its application for an ISO blessing through the European Computer Manufacturers Association (ECMA). In mid-January ECMA submitted a 2293-page document to ISO for discussion in February.
According to Heise, Sutor says organisations that store their documents using OOXML implemented in Microsoft's Office 2007 suite of applications will have 'major problems'. "Should ISO approve OOXML, it will in any case be an entirely different format."
According to the Wall Street Journal, the European Commission is considering to investigate Microsoft's influence on the OOXML ISO process. Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper wrote earlier this month: "European Union antitrust officials have asked Microsoft for information about its activities in the standards-setting process and are stepping up scrutiny of the issue."
© European Communities 2008
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Further information:
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Heise news item (German)
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Interview with Bob Sutor (German)