[quote]
If you watch the arrangements made at the XML 2007 conference, you’ll
find that Microsoft hosts, pays for, covers, and sponsors all sorts of
things (mind the “Hors d’oeuvres and drinks hosted by Microsoft”).
[/quote]

http://boycottnovell.com/2007/12/06/moonlight-drinks-xml-2007/

[quote]
A reader has made us aware us a very curious mailing list thread.
“Someone harshly criticized Microsoft security making some very good
points,” he writes. “Suddenly a Microsoft rep materialized on the
mailing list to refute them, offer to put on a security dog and pony
show for the group and buy everyone lunch, and that’s where it ended!
[/quote]

http://boycottnovell.com/2007/12/09/microsoft-buying-love/

[quote]
The Vole [Microsoft] supposedly invited The INQ over for tea because we
are notorious “Microsoft doubters” – and we were accompanied by other
supposed Vole doubters such as the folk from lifehacker and a very nice
man from Slashdot, as well as some Microsoft MvPs.
[/quote]

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36312

[quote]
Microsoft flew me there from Florida at its expense, put me up in a nice
hotel, provided decent food, and comped me and four other invitees to
this “special conference” with presentations about the marvels of Vista
and other recent or upcoming Microsoft products. They didn’t quite play
the old Beatles song “Love Me Do” in the background, but it was the
event’s unstated theme.
[/quote]

http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=06/12/12/085222

[quote]
Gilad Tiefenbrun, Director of Engineering of Linn Products in Scotland
(known since the 1970s for their high-end audio equipment), showed their
new Sneaky Music DS device for playing high quality music stored on a
home LAN — with Open Source software components you can modify to your
heart’s content.

…

Microsoft picked up the tab for drinks and food
[/quote]

http://danbricklin.com/log/2008_03_06.htm#tt03linn

Also relevant:

http://boycottnovell.com/2008/03/11/microsoft-invades-foss/
http://boycottnovell.com/2008/04/02/foss-grab-and-redefinition/

Some large proportion of ISO’s funding (1/3rd or 2/3rd, I can’t remember which) comes from corporate sponsors.

They pay for a lot more than the dinners.

http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-95230/sc34-thanked-microsoft-korea-for-the-dinner

“The company from Redmond is heavily investing in the ISO SC34 committee. Thanks to a brazilian blogger who manage to shed some light on what was going on in there, we hear now that Microsoft Korea was paying for dinner.”

It’s just nothing new, this is how ISO operates.

And before you accuse me of your usual “similar evil” argument, re-read what I said until you understand it.

I haven’t said that it shouldn’t be out in the open…

Maybe it is time that MS is banned from EU procurement. That would be about the only remedy (aside from necklacing Gates and crew on pay per view) that could have any near-term impact:

http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/06/19/231119/green-meps-say-microsoft-should-be-banned-from-eu-procurement.htm

Though, I think at this point it’s a bit pointless since presumably they will be publishing it properly not too long from now. At least, hopefully….

> bigger players like IBM who will be
> more willing to take that fall

I think the day you find a big software vendor playing fast and loose with IP rights will be the day hell freezes over! Rob Weir has had a copy of the 29500 text since March, but is waaaay too wise to broadcast it over the web!

- Alex.

If you want to encourage Roy to break laws, go ahead and do it. In this case though, I suggest that there are bigger players like IBM who will be more willing to take that fall.

http://boycottnovell.com/2008/10/07/brazil-hijacked-by-microsoft/

I’m just trying to suggest to you that there are easier ways of achieving the same thing.

… or even wikileaks, as you mentioned previously.

Think of it as a moral obligation, but shall ISO go litigious, I’ll remove these files immediately, no complains made. ISO would then come under fire from other people (that’s my prediction), it will get not even a penny, and the document will never stop circulating anyway (by E-mail, torrent, P2P, or CD-ROM).

To think that I’m the first one to have gotten my hands on this is false. To publish something without a breach is not so rude, especially given the moral factors at play (hint).

If Microsoft/ISO wants a scapegoat, let them make their critics’ day.

I’m just saying that taking Brown’s comments as a threat is potentially missing an underlying good piece of advice. But, that’s up to you and Shane.