,—-[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is calling on the Great British public to join its campaign
| to get the XML Office format adopted as an international standard.
|
| [...]
|
| It is not clear if the UK is an opponent. However, a representative
| of fellow member the Bureau of Indian Standards recently reportedly
| complained to the IndiaTime.com over Microsoft’s decision to dump
| 6,000 pages of documentation on them.
`—-

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/04/microsoft_office_standards_petition/

Microsoft’s Open XML Format Advances in ISO

,—-[ Quote ]
| Andy Updegrove, a partner with Boston law firm Gesmer Updegrove and
| editor of the ConsortiumInfo.org standards blog, said that 14 of 20
| responses were clearly negative, two indicated divisions of opinion,
| three were inconclusive or neutral, and one offered no objections.
`—-

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2110684,00.asp

Microsoft Fights for OpenOffice XML Standard Approval

,—-[ Quote ]
| To win approval, Microsoft must obtain 75 percent of all
| votes cast.
|
| Organizers have said they expect representatives from about
| 100 countries, including the United States, Canada and most
| large European and Asian nations, to ultimately cast ballots
| on the issue.
`—-

http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/56642.html

Packing The Court At The ISO?

,—-[ Quote ]
| …P member countries (‘participating member’ countries) sending
| representatives, and I am interested to note the majority of
| their representatives are, as individuals, also Microsoft employees.
|
| [...]
|
| How can they not see that OOXML (ECMA 376) is unwanted by anyone outside of
| Microsoft? How about it Brian Jones? Are you really so desperate that you
| have to resort to that?
`—-

http://lnxwalt.wordpress.com/2007/03/23/packing-the-court-at-the-iso/

Q&A: Former Mass. CIO feels ‘bittersweet pride’ after battles with Microsoft, legislature

,—-[ Quote ]
| As CIO of Massachusetts from February to November last year, Louis
| Gutierrez had to endure most of the brunt of Microsoft Corp.’s political
| wrath over a state policy calling for the adoption of the Open Document
| Format for Office Applications, or ODF — a rival to the software vendor’s
| Office Open XML file format.
|
| [...]
|
| Do you see any reason for there to be two standards? If you were
| starting blank-slate, there certainly would not be value to creating
| two separate standards. Over time, it has sometimes been useful to
| have the competition of two standards to keep both sides honest.
| But I don’t see particular value in the long-term co-existence of
| two separate standards.
`—-

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9012760&source=rss_news50

,—-[ Quote ]
| Quinn: Almost to a person, to anybody involved or who knows about
| the ODF issue, they attributed the story to Microsoft, right, wrong
| or otherwise. Senator Pacheco may be a bully but I do not believe he
| is disingenious and would stoop to such a tactic. Senator Pacheco and
| Secretary Galvin’s office remain very heavily influenced by the
| Microsoft money and its lobbyist machine, as witnessed by their
| playbook and words, in my opinion.
|
| Quinn: I believe that the ODF decision will stand. I believe MS
| will continue to do anything and everything it can to stop it. And I
| know my seat wasn’t even empty and they (MS) took another shot at
| the title, to no avail. This horse is out of the barn and I see no
| way for it to go back in. Remember, all we are asking for was and is
| for Microsoft to commit to open and the standards process; so
| everyone looks really bad if the plug gets pulled at this juncture.
`—-

http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060119232859729

MA Governor-Elect Names MS Anti-ODF Lobbyist to Technology Advisory Group

http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20061128161343183

The Sorry State of Massachusetts

http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=2006111603531029

Microsoft offers schools in Mass. free software [to stop ODF adoption]

http://news.com.com/2100-7344_3-6090196.html?part=rss&tag=6090196&subj=news

Microsoft plays Massachusetts Senate card

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32515

Microsoft playing three card monte with XML conversion

,—-[ Quote ]
| Gary Edwards of the Open Document Foundation, a leading member
| of its technical committee, says Microsoft is playing proprietary
| games aimed at controlling XML file formats and preventing the
| Open Document Format from gaining a foothold.
`—-

http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=959