[Openstds] Wall Street Journal: Microsoft Technical-Standard Bid Fails

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

Microsoft Technical-Standard Bid Fails
By CHARLES FORELLE
September 5, 2007; Page A6

BRUSSELS -- Microsoft Corp. failed to make its Office software file 
format an international standard, losing a closely watched vote that 
reflects the software titan's broader battles in Europe and around the 
world.

Microsoft has pushed hard to place the imprimatur of the Geneva-based 
International Organization for Standardization on the newest version of 
Office. Gaining such acceptance by the international standards-setting 
body was aimed in part at allaying concerns that the Redmond, Wash., 
company's control of the file formats -- the rubrics used to turn bits 
of data into business letters, spreadsheets and presentations -- keeps 
rivals from developing competing office software.

Critics, led by open-source advocates and rival International Business 
Machines Corp., pushed back. They said the Office file format, called 
Open XML, is flawed and so laden with Microsoft-specific features that 
only Microsoft would be able to use it fully. Giving it the ISO's 
approval would cement Microsoft's dominance, they argue.

Microsoft's commanding position in software markets is a hot topic in 
Europe. Regulators and the company are eagerly awaiting an important 
court ruling, due Sept. 17, in Europe's long-running antitrust case 
featuring the Windows operating system. Potentially on deck, should the 
antitrust regulator prevail, is a separate complaint alleging Microsoft 
has used its Office file formats to block competitors from that market. 
Without knowing exactly how a Microsoft Word document is formatted, for 
example, a rival has a hard time selling software that works with Word 
documents.

Besides concerns over Microsoft's dominance of markets, the standards 
matter has become important because it speaks to the issue of who 
should control the digital codes used to store billions of documents.

To become a standard, Open XML needed to meet two criteria, and it 
missed both -- albeit narrowly in one case. According to the ISO, 26% 
of countries casting ballots voted against Open XML; for Microsoft to 
have prevailed, no more than 25% can oppose. On a second criterion, 
that two-thirds of a key group of countries -- including the U.S. -- 
vote yes, Open XML fell shorter. It garnered 53% of those votes. The 
U.S. voted yes. Voting on Open XML closed Sunday.

The balloting was contentious. Opponents said Microsoft packed national 
bodies by urging its allies to join standards committees from Italy to 
Kenya. In Italy, the standards committee swelled from a half-dozen 
members to 85 in a matter of months. Microsoft responds by saying IBM 
was stirring up opposition to Open XML.

Microsoft's top standards official, Tom Robertson, said he was 
"extremely delighted" that the company had support from 74% of the 
broader group. The standards issue now enters another phase, during 
which the company has a chance to persuade opposed countries to change 
their minds. Mr. Robertson described the next phase, which should end 
in the first quarter of 2008, as an opportunity to improve the 
proposal.

The British standards authority said in a statement that its review 
panel "identified a number of technical issues in the document which 
need to be addressed before the U.K. can approve" Open XML.

Opponents celebrated. "The free-minded society has gathered together, 
found that something is wrong, advocated against it and opened the 
minds of many," said Carlo Piana, an Italian lawyer who represents 
open-source interests and served on the Italian standards committee. 
Shane Coughlan, the manager of legal projects at Free Software 
Foundation Europe, an open-source group, says the fact that the 
proposal wasn't "rubber-stamped by ISO itself...is a good sign for 
international standardization."

Write to Charles Forelle at charles.forelle at wsj.com1
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---------------------------------
Thiru Balasubramaniam
Geneva Representative
Knowledge Ecology International (KEI)
voice +41.22.791.6727
fax +41.22.723.2988
mobile +41 76 508 0997
thiru at keionline.org