In April, the ITSC received a letter from a Singapore company expressing support for the MS OOXML standard. What was amazing is that the letter was so plain and was nothing more than a fill-in-the-template deal. I did a quick search, and found four [1], [2], [3], [4] others with essentially the same prose except for the company name and related contact details.
Microsoft, through their “business partners” are cranking up “support” for the flawed OOXML standard and we need to ensure that it either fails completely from becoming an ISO standard OR every detail of their stuff is published and open.
[1] http://www.incits.org/DIS29500/in070274.htm
[2] http://www.incits.org/DIS29500/in070360.htm
[3] http://www.incits.org/DIS29500/in070347.htm
[4] http://www.incits.org/DIS29500/in070273.pdf
How can you help? Many ways. First, contact the standards bodies in your country. In Singapore it is the National IT Standards Committee – http://www.itsc.org.sg. They will be able to tell you who manages XML related stuff. In the case of Singapore it is the XML TC. Contact the chairmen and seek their approval to participate in their meetings. Ensure that if Microsoft is there in their many colours, try to detect that. Above all, be fair. If we can get Microsoft to totally define every bit of their OOXML (which has not been done thus far), then by all means it is OK to see if it can be a standard. If, and this is most likely the case, they refuse or put a million excuses as to why it cannot be done, vote it down. Ensure that your country files a NO vote on September 2nd 2007.