04.15.08
Quick Mention: Why ISO is the New ECMA
ISO is doing its already-tarnished reputation no favours. “Standardisation by corporation,” a phrase probably coined by that who escaped ISO just before its downfall, appears to be a new standard at ISO.
In Norway’s protest, it was clearly stated that its goal was not to slam ISO but to defend its integrity. But judging by ISO’s latest moves, having been taken over, it’s truly a lost cause.
In my French, ISO is to become the next ECMA International. Indeed, SC34 expects more controversy to come: The participants in SC 34 propose to shield themselves from public criticism.
It’s a sad state of affairs at the moment, but it’s not over yet. Be sure to find out more about the indirect relationships between Microsoft and ISO.
If ISO hopes to find itself sheltered behind closed doors (repetition of the events in Geneva [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]), it will cease to become a legitimate authority for ratification of transparent, open, free and fair international standard. It will become a cabal. █
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.