InformationWeek: Microsoft Says OOXML Vote Was Fair
"Microsoft said allegations that it improperly influenced the vote on a new standard for digital document creation are unfounded and arise mostly from individuals and companies unhappy with the vote's result.
"'People who didn't like the outcome are attacking the outcome,' said Tom Robertson, Microsoft's general manager for interoperability and standards, in an interview Friday..."
"Besides a probe begun in January regarding whether OOXML is sufficiently interoperable with competitors' products, an EC spokesperson has now acknowledged that the commission is also looking into Microsoft's tactics in the contentious standard setting process surrounding OOXML.
"'In the course of the investigation of the interoperability issues related to Microsoft's products... we have indeed made inquiries with the... national standardization organizations about possible irregularities in the OOXML standardization process,' the EC spokesperson said in an e-mail to InternetNews.com..."
"The details come from Geir Isene, who you may recall from this prior entry was part of the Standards Norge OOXML mirror committee that overwhelmingly voted to disapprove OOXML, only to be overruled by Standards Norge officials (who voted to approve). He later reported that committee chair Steve Pepper filed a protest with ISO over that vote (Standards Norge released an explanation of its action that you can find here). Now, Geir reports that Pepper is calling for a public demonstration to protest the Norwegian vote. The demo will be held on Wednesday when SC34, the same ISO committee that had responsibility for considering OOXML, will conveniently hold a meeting in Oslo..."
