ISO boards face OOXML deadline pressure

NATIONAL STANDARDS boards in several European countries are under a lot of pressure just ahead of the ISO voting deadline on Microsoft's proposed OOXML document formats. Within just the past two days there have been reports of bribery, one country's decision invalidated, a veiled threat, an astroturfing campaign, and at least one country's decision still pending under intense lobbying.

We've already covered the travesty at the ISO board meeting in Sweden here, here and here. A Microsoft representative promised "marketing assistance" and "added resources" - bribes, that is - to its Swedish business partners, making clear that Microsoft "expected" them to attend the ISO board meeting and vote Yes on OOXML. Many of them (22) did as they were told, packing the meeting in Microsoft's favour, resulting in a Yes decision.

After news of this shady influence got out, Vole Central quickly backpedalled, of course. Sweden's national standards body SIS subsequently declared the vote invalid. There's not enough time left before the deadline for a revote to be held, so Sweden will abstain.

In Denmark, a source reportedly said that Microsoft pressured him to send an expression of support to Dansk Standard, the Danish standards board. By Groklaw's translation, Version2 reported: "'If I had not sent in a positive comment, it would have had consequences for our relations with Microsoft', he says. Our source points to e.g. leads, support and seminars as areas that might be jeopardised if 'he did not behave'."

The Danish MP reportedly wants assurance that only technical factors were considered by Dansk Standard and that political or economic influences were not brought to bear.

Also, a member of the Danish parliament has reportedly lodged a pointed question with a government minister as to whether the government has had any contact with Dansk Standard with regard to the ISO vote on OOXML.

In Norway, Microsoft apparently mounted an astroturfing campaign against the Norwegian standards body Standard Norge. Out of 59 comments received by Standard Norge, 37 were a Vole form letter that many of its Norwegian business partners didn't even bother to sign before sending them in.

France has not announced its final decision yet, and likely won't before offices open again on Monday. The majority in a pre-vote ballot was No. However, the French standards body AFNOR apparently is required by its rules to reach consensus on ISO decisions, and Microsoft and its minority of supporters are reportedly refusing to accept a No decision. If AFNOR cannot reach a consensus by Sunday to vote either Yes or No, France might have to abstain.

This is just the most recent news from this week so far about the ISO standards setting process relative to OOXML. There have been earlier reports of irregularities involving the ISO process on OOXML from other countries including Spain, Portugal, Germany and Switzerland, but time and space constraints preclude covering all that here. Maybe someone will write a book someday and the whole story will come out.

What seems clear by now, however, is that Microsoft is scared out of its wits about having to compete on the level playing field of a precisely specified international standard for office document formats, that is, the Open Document Format (ODF). µ

L'INQS
Groklaw - OOXML News From Denmark
Groklaw - Norway and OOXML
Groklaw - France and OOXML...

See Also
Microsoft brings in rent-a-mob
Vole's smoking gun ISO OOXML memo surfaces
Microsoft admits bunging cash to partners