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EU investigation into Open XML vote still ongoing

European antitrust regulators are investigating whether Microsoft abused its desktop software market dominance in its effort to standardize the Office Open XML file formats.

The European Commission's antitrust regulatory body sent queries to several European countries to see how the standards-setting process was working, a spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday.

The investigation is still ongoing, he added.

The effort stems from a complaint lodged by anti-Microsoft lobbying group ECIS (European Commission for Interoperable Systems). The Commission said in January that it is exploring whether the Open XML file formats are sufficiently interoperable with competitors' products.

The Wall Street Journal in … Read more

Challenges coming to ISO Open XML vote?

Now that Office Open XML (OOXML) has been certified as an ISO standard, there is a possibility that the vote leading to that result will be challenged. It seems Microsoft is already counting on it.

The ISO on Wednesday officially announced that Open XML received enough votes to become a standard, reversing a previous attempt in September that failed.

But there have been several reports of "irregularities" in the voting of the 87 national standards bodies that participated.

Those complaints could lead to a formal appeal of the votes which, under ISO rules, need to be lodged by … Read more

ISO: Office Open XML ratified as standard

As expected, the ISO on Wednesday announced that Office Open XML (OOXML) has been approved as a standard, marking the end a long and sometimes contentious path.

The Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) issued a press release with the details of a vote that showed Open XML receiving 75 percent approval and 14 percent disapproval. It needed two-thirds approval and not more than 25 percent disapproval to pass.

News of the vote results circulated on Tuesday when open-document advocates released a document showing the results. Microsoft confirmed the information later in the day.

The effort to make Open XML … Read more

Office Open XML is an ISO standard: Now what?

It's all over except the press release. But in other ways, it's just the beginning.

After a document appeared on Tuesday showing that Office Open XML (OOXML) gained enough votes to be ratified as an ISO standard, Microsoft on Tuesday confirmed the result.

The company's bid-- started in 2005--to make the Open XML file formats international standards has succeeded, barring any last-minute changes. The ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is scheduled to issue the official communiqu? on Wednesday.

Once final, ISO/IEC certification means that development of the specification, officially called Draft International Standard (DIS) 29500, … Read more

Unofficial document: Open XML passes ISO vote

Update: Microsoft has confirmed that Office Open XML has been ratified as an ISO standard. See updated information below.

A document that appears to be the voting record over a contentious ISO vote shows Office Open XML (OOXML) having enough support to pass as a standard.

The PDF document appeared on at least two Web sites Tuesday morning.

The results in the document show that Open XML received 75 percent approval from the "P-members" of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) committee and 10 negative votes, or 14 percent.

To become certified, Open XML needed at least two-thirds … Read more

Norway seeks to reverse Open XML vote at ISO

Norway's national standards body has lodged a formal protest over the country's vote on Office Open XML (OOXML) at the ISO.

The chairman of the Norway's standards committee said there were "serious irregularities" with the voting process and that the vote should be changed to oppose ISO certification of Open XML.

In the letter, sent on Monday to the ISO, Steve Pepper asked that Norway's vote be suspended pending the results of an investigation.

Here is the text of what Pepper wrote in the letter (PDF):

I am writing to you in my capacity … Read more

Open XML vote: Politics, intrigue, and, oh, some tech

Saturday evening at midnight Central European Time is zero hour for a vote on Open XML that will, regardless of outcome, leave many people elated and bitter.

National Standards Bodies from 87 countries have until the last moments of March 29 to render a decision on whether the Microsoft-conceived Office Open XML (OOXML) document formats should be a standard at the ISO, the International Organization for Standardization.

Based on blogs and early reports, it's clear the vote could go either way.

Even the person who helped spearhead the effort, Microsoft's general manager of interoperability and standards Tom Robertson, … Read more

After TorrentSpy closure, what's next for MPAA?

The movie industry has seen mixed results from suing individuals for file sharing but continues to clobber BitTorrent search engines.

TorrentSpy, once one of the most popular indexes of BitTorrent files, shut down on Monday following a two-year copyright battle with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). TorrentSpy, accused in a lawsuit of encouraging copyright infringement, finally crumpled under the legal costs.

This can't come as good news to Gary Fung, chief executive of IsoHunt. His company was among a group of torrent-file search engines, which also included TorrentSpy, accused of copyright infringement in a 2006 lawsuit filed … Read more

India still thumbs-down on Open XML

The Bureau of Indian Standards has decided to vote against recommending Office Open XML as an ISO standard.

According to local reports, India's national standards-making body will not change its position in regards to Open XML, the document formats Microsoft and other companies have sought to standardize at the ISO (International Organization for Standardization).

By next Saturday, March 29, national standards organizations need to submit their judgment on whether Open XML should be an ISO standard through its accelerated process.

The United States has already indicated that he will recommend Open XML to be a standard.

India's vote … Read more

Crunch time for Microsoft's Open XML standards bid

Government technocrats are meeting this week in Geneva to decide the fate of Microsoft's Office Open XML, a document format that backers say is worthy of an international standard but foes call a risk to people's liberties in the Digital Age.

The five-day conference will not directly result in a "yea" or "nay" on whether Open XML will be certified by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Instead, the "ballot resolution meeting" will allow representatives from national standards bodies one month to revise a previous vote from September, where Open XML was … Read more