11.18.07
Manipulation, Astroturfing, and What Governments Can Do
A solution to document formats and standards possibly relies on politicians
According to this new writeup from Andy Updegrove, Obama has pledged his support for open document formats.
The fact of the matter is that I have no idea, but apparently he (or his handlers) believe that open formats are important enough not only to be used in the debate and the full nine-page policy statement available at the Obama Web site, but in the much briefer press release as well.
”The OOXML crimes (lies, briberies, etc.) are well recorded in this Web.“It has been said many time before (here and elsewhere) that Microsoft desperately craves ISO’s blessing [1, 2] in order for a proprietary format (OOXML) to be considered ‘open’ by those insufficiently technical, or by those who must abide by the regulations, which prescribe open standards (whatever the requirements and criteria may be).
This clearly explains why Microsoft was willing to take huge risks and break the rules (Microsoft will deny this using spin doctors, which is something we will illustrate in a moment). The OOXML frauds (lies, briberies, etc.) are well recorded in this Web. We will refer back to them occasionally in the future.
Dirty tricks do not escape without a response. Lawsuits are apparently on their way, but one ought worry though. A lawsuit against Microsoft is also a request for trouble if history’s lesson is anything to go by. If a guy was to face Microsoft’s wrath, would Microsoft bully him out of his job like Peter Quinn and others? There is possibly another guy in Finland, who was a victim of similar treatment.
I have seen a lot of dirty tricks being used by Microsoft. They are using all kinds of proxies and smear campaigns (that’s how they operate secretly before they are caught red-handed). Read the interview with Peter Quinn for example. You’ll soon get a taste of it. Whether our site is a victim or not it would be hard to tell, but there are prior (and almost identical) cases . I might write about it separately in a moment.
Never, ever, ever forget why Novell supports OOXML. It was very obvious at the time and the figure below says it all.
In some arbitrary search for information I came across the following post from Tim Bray.
Rick, I can’t believe that you’re pushing back on the central news story here; this is the most corrupt and politicized standards process I’ve seen in the two decades or so I’ve been mixed up with standards. It’s a real, legitimate, big, news story.
Be sure to see Rick’s reply and remember who he is. He is one among those few people who call themselves “independent” individuals, but Microsoft paid him to edit Wikipedia in Microsoft’s favour (we covered this before). If you do some research about his profile and history, you will also find that Microsoft also flies him around the world and he attends Microsoft events. In the thread above you will find him defending Microsoft not just for technical things, but also for ethical things. But people are not foolish. This is a trivial case of following the money.
It is absolutely fascinating how Microsoft buys itself apologists. In my eyes, that in itself is fraudulent behaviour (never mind the OOXML frauds at hand). Then, come to consider lobbying, which is a polite term for legalised manipulation, harassment and sometime even bribery and bullying (recall the Massachusetts story and also the one from Florida). Rewriting laws and supporting politicians is a way to ensure the government merely serves a corporation, so returning to the start of this post, can Obama make a difference? Will he?
