RSSSwedish Standards Vote on OOXML Declared Invalid, SIS to Abstain
by Scott M. Fulton, III
After considerable suspicion was cast on the reasons why, and the methods how, 23 extra members joined the Swedish international standards body SIS as recently as the day before it was to vote on recommending Microsoft's Office Open XML to the ISO, the SIS has decided to invalidate its "Yes, with comments" vote, and to cast an abstention in next week's ISO proceedings.
There are three conflicting accounts as to why. Two days ago, Microsoft's corporate standards director Jason Matusow responded to inquiries by BetaNews and others with a blog post that attempted to explain the problem as having been caused by a single Microsoft Sweden employee acting out of bounds.
In a further explanation of the affair, Matusow said the unnamed employee originally told these two partners that they would be responsible for their own costs in joining the SIS, but that Microsoft would try to help them out later with promises of product support. Since these were Microsoft partners anyway, and they would already be receiving product support, such a promise appeared awkward. Why, we wondered, would Microsoft promise something to partners that they should already be receiving?
But in a second account of the affair which may or may not conflict with Matusow's, the company's interoperability and standards GM Tom Robertson told Computerworld yesterday that money was also promised. Robertson did not say whether this was the same Microsoft Sweden employee as Matusow referred to the day before, nor whether the money was offered to the same two partners to which Matusow referred.
Robertson said the offer was readily retracted once managers were made aware of it, implied that no money actually changed hands, and said that the final outcome of the SIS vote was not affected.
Yet both stories may or may not conflict with the SIS' own statement, of which multiple translations to English (frankly, something partly resembling English) seem to say that it has invalidated its working group's vote and will abstain after discovering two votes that come from the same source.
There are two possibilities: If the SIS has determined that the vote from two of its members was manipulated by a single source, as Matusow's account indicated, then it may have concluded that those two votes were virtually cast by the same member - which is against its regulations, the SIS stated. But if a single voting member truly did vote twice, then the cause for invalidation may have nothing to do with either of Microsoft's accounts.
In his explanation of the Swedish affair, Matusow said both Microsoft and IBM contacted SIS members and urged them to join the voting process, as SIS rules permit them to do. But in the end, he said, all members voted their conscience, and all voted equally.
"If Open XML is to be approved for standardization at JTC1, it needs to do so by the book," he wrote. "We may all disagree about the book (witness the arguments about no with comments vs. yes with comments), but it is critical that these activities remain within the realm of ethical behavior as well as behavior defined by the rules for the JTC1 process. In this case, I understand the concern raised by this error in judgment by an MS employee. The only thing I can say is that the right things were done as the issue was identified. The process and vote at SIS were not affected."
Or maybe they were. If the SIS' own assessment proves to be accurate, it would appear some consciences are more equal than others.
30 Comments
They supply cheapest silkroad gold
for the player.They have sro gold . I usually buy silkroad online gold
from them. silk road gold
They have professional worker help you. I like to buy cheap silkroad gold here.
Score: 0
They supply cheapest runescape gold
for the player.They have buy runescape . I usually rs gold
from them. runescape money
They have professional worker help you. I like to buy cheap rs gold here.
Score: 0
if Microsoft and Macintosh would have merged do you think it would have been called Micro-slosh?
Score: 0
No.
Score: 0
If MS isn't allowed to stuff the ballot box, perhaps they can ask for Diebold voting machines to count the votes.
Score: 0
LMAO!
Score: 0
Walli's Microsoft's Failures with the OOXML Standard[/b] is informative, and today's must-read.
Extra-curricular reading with Andy Updegrove on [b]the damage Microsoft has caused[/b] with its sad and fraudulent vote-buying within the standards community.
Only a uninformed d-mned fool liar defends Microsoft's actions. When they're [b]invalidating entire National Body votes because of your public bribes, you really should be kicked out and banned. I thought standards processes were supposed to be open and transparent. Not in Microsoft-land, where they have to buy phony IDC surveys that count PDF files as MS-OOXML files to boost their numbers. Only the Bush administration and repub senator Larry Craig do this many stupid things in succession.
Score: 0
And only Zaine Ridling could troll Microsoft, Republicans, and every single person who isn't riding the Anti-MS FUD train with a single post.
Well done. Truly, my hat is off to you, sir.
For you next trick, try and work immigration and Mass Transit into it.
Score: 0
I love the M$ drones on here....have zero understanding of the subject matter, see someone not toting the M$ propaganda line, and attack them.
As far as the political statement...it is true. you might not like it, but oh well. Would it make you feel better if they were both Democrats and he said the same thing?
Score: 0
Oh, lord... Here we go again.
I love the anti[/b] M$ drones on here....have zero understanding of the subject matter, see someone not toting the [b]antiM$ propaganda line, and attack them.
Huh... Sounds about right.
Score: 0
The main reason why the vote is invalidated, is because some idiot voted twice in the process. Not because of Microsoft encouraging their partners of voting (legal) or bribing (illegal, but not proven). This article sorely needs of an updated clarification.
edit: Before someone asks why there are no new vote, it is because the deadline is way too near for another vote to be taken again.
Score: 0
i tried out the ooxml format and compared it to other popular doc format and saw that ooxml is almost twice or thrice the size of a normal word doc or openoffice doc or pdf. why would a sane person use ooxml?
Also other than thinkfree, no other online doc websites support it. (google or zoho)
-GGR
Score: 0
Usual Microsoft lies and corruption.
Buisness as usual in Redmond it seems.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents
Score: 0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_documents
Are you suggesting that companies shouldn't have strategies to compete with, well, their competitors?
Huh...
Score: 0
Could you at least remain current, thats at least 3 years ago.
Score: 0
Not when it involves making up FUD against the competition.
Score: 0
*rolling on the floor laughing my a** off*
MinuteMaid...
Speaking out against FUD...
Oooohhhh, the irony.
Score: 0
You know Microsoft INVENTED the term FUD, Fear Uncertainty Doubt, for their campaign to kill Unix.
Score: 0
FUD was first defined by Gene Amdahl after he left IBM to found his own company, Amdahl Corp.
Go away.
Score: 0
Everyone lies, but it makes no difference, because no one listens.
Score: 0
I think we're wandering off the point.
How about paying people to vote your way - surely that's bribery and corruption?
Or "lobbying" as it's known in the US.
Score: 0
[i]How about paying people to vote your way - surely that's bribery and corruption?[i/]
Sure. Why not. Let's just hold off a little on the FUD machine until we get some actual, ya know...facts?
Score: 0
If the SIS' own assessment proves to be accurate
"if"
Can we hold off on the wild speculation at *least* until it is proven either accurate or inaccurate??
Score: 0
What do you expect its M$, they are evil and always guilty!
Oops, sorry I thought I was on /. and I wanted to fit in. :)
Score: 0
Seems to be heading in that direction as of late, the confusion is justified.
Score: 0
No.
Score: 0
M[/b]amon or ephistopheles
[b]Satan
wink, grin...
Score: 0
Well, that explains it then.
Score: 0
Lepers I N U X
No wonder it has such a small market share!
nudge, nudge :)
/yes I realize it has nothing to do with the article so before you go and have a tissy fit its a joke.
Score: 0
Nah, it's obviously L[/b]inux [b]i[/b]s [b]n[/b]ot [b]U[/b]ni[b]x. It's a new type of recursion, a genius unique to Torvalds and his merry men.
Score: 0