New Report Critical of ECMA’s role in Standardisation of OOXML

The report applies the Brinkburn Analysis™ to evaluate the validity of Ecma’s privileged status within ISO, one not enjoyed by any other Consortia, and criticises ECMA for having “virtually no representation for many points of view” and “no outreach and no liasons with other consortia”. Most damning of all is the conclusion in respect of OOXML – “It is a breach, almost, of common sense. Ecma, through its members, has created, with the exploitation of a loophole, a precedent that may well enable the breakdown of the formal standards process”.

It’s also a report on an interview where Bryden responds to written questions.

Now, if you know how to read these things that says volumes that he wouldn’t sit down with the reporter and do a real interview. None of them good.

Both he and IEC are trying to spin the OOXML debacle in a way that preserves their preeminence in standards setting.

And trying to recover some of their tattered credibility in that if you have enough money and run things through “standards for sale” ECMA you get what you want no matter how ridiculous.

The report did provide balance in straight reporting of the issues around what seems to be a stillborn standard and the views of those who feel the entire process was corrupted in one form or another.

In fact that takes up some 1/3 of the words in the article.

And Microsoft while showing how to game the ISO process is partly to blame for the mess they only need to be thanked for illustrating it. The wound is self-inflicted and won’t heal until ISO/IEC recognizes it and corrects it.

Dumping their link with ECMA would be an excellent start though I’m not going to hold my breath for that to happen.

Until some of this happens ISO/IEC has lost considerable credibility and the continued denial of this only erodes the little that is left.

ttfn

John