09.03.07
Ireland, Korea, and the United Kingdom Don’t Fall for the (Supposedly) ‘Open’ XML Plot
“No, no, and no!”
Just hours ago, Andy Updegrove maintained some optimism. It appears as though, while many nations were pressured and lobbies, not so many nations have fallen victims to bullying, bribery, deception, and extortion. Ireland, for example, said “No” (with comments), but it added a little slant to this “No”.
After months of intensive review, analysis and discussion, NSAI has voted Disapproval - with Technical Comments, in respect of the OOXML submission. This effectively is a qualified yes, whereby Ireland has some technical issues with the submission. If the Technical Comments are satisfactorily resolved and incorporated into a new draft, the vote is subsequently amended to Approval.
Korea’s position was rather similar.
Korean government concluded that OOXML is incomplete for ISO standards right now and suggested some of complements for that.
The United Kingdom and France were also not fooled by a proprietary agenda wrapped in an XML gown and backed by big bucks. This is despite the UK’s proven Microsoft solidarity.
It identified a number of technical issues in the document which need to be addressed before the UK can approve ISO/IEC DIS 29500 OOXML as an International Standard.
Highlight: Novell was the first to acknowledge that Microsoft FUD tactics had substance. Novell then used anti-Linux FUD to market itself. 
Highlight: Xandros let Microsoft make patent claims and brag about (paid-for) OOXML support. 
Highlight: Linspire's CEO not only fell into Microsoft arms, but he also assisted the company's attack on GNU/Linux. 
Highlight: Microsoft craves pseudo (proprietary) standards and gets its way using proxies and influence which it buys. 
Highlight: The invasion into the open source world is intended to leave Linux companies neglected, due to financial incentives from Microsoft. 
Analysis: Xen, an open source hypervisor, possibly fell victim to Microsoft's aggressive (and stealthy) acquisition-by-proxy strategy.