Bonum Certa Men Certa

Reader's Take on OpenDocument Foundation and Microsoft (Updatedx3)

We checked, but we remain unsure

The following has been discussed in the IRC channel for a couple of hours, but it's still inconclusive. We share with you information that an anonymous reader claims to have found. We can't confirm any of this to be verifiable, but this need to be considered in light of the fact that the defunct OpenDocument Foundation (not alliance) seemed close to Microsoft. It was odd at the time.






I have been observing the oiic list and the lawyer guy called marbux



He is using the signature

Universal Interoperability Council <http:www.universal-interop-council.org>

Just did a whois on that domain name

http://www.betterwhois.com

guess what turns up

Domain ID:D150461463-LROR Domain Name:UNIVERSAL-INTEROP-COUNCIL.ORG Created On:23-Dec-2007 09:29:57 UTC Last Updated On:22-Feb-2008 03:50:28 UTC Expiration Date:23-Dec-2008 09:29:57 UTC Sponsoring Registrar:GoDaddy.com, Inc. (R91-LROR) Status:CLIENT DELETE PROHIBITED Status:CLIENT RENEW PROHIBITED Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED Status:CLIENT UPDATE PROHIBITED Registrant ID:GODA-041357168 Registrant Name:Olivia Edwards Registrant Organization:TransNet.com Registrant Street1:232 F Street Registrant Street2: Registrant Street3: Registrant City:Redwood City Registrant State/Province:California Registrant Postal Code:94063 Registrant Country:US Registrant Phone:+1.6503650899 Registrant Phone Ext.: Registrant FAX:+1.6503645903 Registrant FAX Ext.: Registrant Email:garyedwards@yahoo.com

Now check this

Registrant Organization:TransNet.com Created On:23-Dec-2007 09:29:57 UTC

Go to therr website TransNet.com ..guess what...Nice logo of..

Microsoft gold certified partner

[...]

Check this out..more about the spooky guy called marbux

http://www.transnet.com/aboutTransNet.asp

.asp so this guys are all Microsoft

hum...more stuff...

Our clients include Fortune 100 organizations, primarily in the pharmaceutical, oil and gas, finance and communications industries, **** as well as educational and local and state governmental institutions****. TransNet common stock is traded in the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board under the symbol "TRNT."

[...]

some more

http://www.transnet.com/train07.asp

microsoft, microsoft, microsoft all over the place






At the moment, Marbux seems active in a new ODF mailing list, but he is hostile towards IBM. The key questions we are unable to answer though:

  1. Is Olivia Edwards the wife of Gary Edwards? We know that his wife helped him set up an office in a garage?
  2. Is "Registrant Organization" associated with the person registering the domain or the host?


Our source was keen to be heard, but we suspect that there's a lot of work to be done if it was ever to become credible enough. It's actually Patrick Durusau that we are more curious about [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].

There's a lot more information in the IRC log that will be posted tomorrow.

"Every single negative letter on ODF received by the Malaysian standards organization was written either by Microsoft, or a Microsoft business partner or a Microsoft affiliated organization (Initiative for Software Choice and IASA)."

A Memo to Patrick Durusau



Update: More information keeps coming. We quote:







registrar is at godaddy. i have not put this email public.

but why would anyone put hosting company name in here...he seems to be a pretty smart guy to do such a thing. normally a person will use his own conmpany name there. plus i check that this company transnet.com does not provide hosting or web designing. hum...very close indeed.

Registrant Organization:TransNet.com

very tricky thing indeed..

[...]

plus transnet.com has a lot of interest in government contracts, etc...

lot of things are just not right. they way he is just bullshitting in the list and trying to just throw it off the track. does anyone without any interest has time to write such long and baseless emails.. and he just dogs when asked for proof. they way he is throwing aquisitions at ibm, sun, groklaw, etc. ...just dosent seem to fit will.

why would anyone do such a thing unless they have some sort of personal gains or interest.

i am just keeping mum unless things become more clear.

[...]

http://www.manta.com/coms2/dnbcompany_g0w5wj

SIC #Code:8748

Est. Annual Sales:$73,000

Est. Employees:1

Est. Employees at Location:1

Contact Name:Olivia Edwards

Contact Title:Owner

So this person (Olivia Edwards) runs a company called Transnet.com

All the records of ownership of the domain www.universal-interop-council.org are with Transnet.com !!!!!

This guy called Marbux claims that he runs that website or writes there. BTW he has left the registration/ownsership of website with Transnet.com - I dont know how many people will do such a thing - that also a real smart techie/lawyer.

Panelist: Buck "Marbux" Martin. Marbux is a retired Oregon lawyer who volunteers his time with the OpenDocument Foundation as its director of legal affairs and is also a freelance investigative writer with an intense interest in software interoperability issues and closely-related subjects such as software patents. Marbux is also a member of the OpenDocument Technical Committee. He received his J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law. "Buck 'Marbux' Martin" is a pseudonym used to maximize his privacy in retirement.

http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:qzc0Cy62

So that is not his real name but some sort of pseudonym.

this is really funny....



We have also just received almost a confirmation that Olivia is the wife of Gary, but let's wait until some better proof is available.

Updated #2: We also hear that Gary and Olivia may have been directors of a company that owned a converter they never finished, and that they hoped to make a profit on. Further to this, from our anonymous reader, here is something for those lacking background:







Gary Edwards is president of the OpenDocument Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Edwards oversees the software standards and development work of the Foundation. The OpenDocument Foundation provides financial and technical support to permit individuals to participate within software standards consortia like OASIS in an open-source manner. Edwards also leads the development work of the ODF Plugin (to MS Office) for the Foundation and its affiliate, OpenDocument, Inc. Edwards was a founding member of the OASIS OpenDocument (Open Document Format for Office Applications) Technical Committee and plays a key role on the ODF subcommittees, including the ODF Formula and the ODF Metadata TCs. Additionally, his influence was instrumental to the early adoption of the OpenOffice.org software around the world. During and prior to his commitment to software standards work, Edwards has led significant consulting projects focused on business process re-engineering in the media, real estate and financial fields.

hum....really strange things are going on here.....

[...]

more stuff..

http://www.betanews.com/article/OpenDocument_Foundation_Dissolves_L

So what it has all to do with Olivia Edwards and Transnet.com and Microsoft Gold Partner and government contracts.

Gary Edwards is president of the OpenDocument Foundation, Inc.

Olivia Edwards - Transnet.com - Microsoft Gold Partner - government contracts. - Est. Annual Sales:$73,000

Something is really fishy.






Update #3: More input of interest arrives.







Am I missing something ? Why would they sponser such a person/domain ? Who is this Marbux/Paul and why is he spamming the list with such nonsense ?? Is he paid to do that or something and what it has to do with ODF/Microsoft ?

As I can see that email for registering that domain is of Gary Edwards.

Registrant FAX Ext.: Registrant Email:garyedwards@yahoo.com

for detailed information. Domain Name: TRANSNET.COM Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC. Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com Name Server: NS13.WORLDNIC.COM Name Server: NS14.WORLDNIC.COM Status: clientTransferProhibited Updated Date: 03-nov-2006 Creation Date: 03-feb-1992

http://www.transnet.com/sec.asp?mu=in

They have been public since 2001. I am not into stock market/accoutant but this company is active since long back...someone needs to dig through the reports. See if they got some extra money out of nowhere since formation/disruption of OpenDocument Foundation, Inc. or whatever is going on...

download one of them and go through them regarding anything strange...check the last page. No mention of Edwards in the board...

http://www.transnet.com/annualReport.asp?mu=in

[...]

http://blogs.eweek.com/brooks/content/office/_the_op...

check this comment...

Michael Shigorin :

Wow, how nice this false thing spreads. Do you at eWeek get lazy at checking the facts that often? I understand that this was a keen trick but you bought into it: "OpenDocument Foundation" just doesn't have any positive connection to the OpenDocument Format in the first place.

http://whois.americaregistry.com/displayWhois.php?z... => Registrant Organization: TransNet.com

Now TransNet is Microsoft partner, and at least one of the three people in this "Foundation" was a marketing lead at openoffice.org -- who left his position not without scandal.

So, please do consider that we have at least company which is eager to deceive in this area, and who are deceiving.

Posted by Michael Shigorin | November 5, 2007 10:18 AM




Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, UbuntuPIT, and Google News
We've also just noticed more slop from UbuntuPIT
 
Links 09/10/2025: Farewell to Jane Goodall, California Bans Algorithmic Price-Fixing
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/10/2025: Lost Wages and a Saga Of Continuing To Use Palm PDAs
Links for the day
Richard Stallman's Talk in Helsinki is Done. Tomorrow Göteborg.
There are scarce details in Finnish about Dr. Stallman's talk
New XBox Leaks Probably Serve to Confirm XBox's Collapse (Many More Layoffs)
It's very much consistent with what many other sites have reported lately
The Slop Song
The train wreck marches on
LLM Slop/Advanced Plagiarism Flooding the Zone With Capital That Does Not Exist
Many publishers out there still participate in this bubble instead of calling it what it is
Links 09/10/2025: Sacked Microsoft Workers Make "Sackbird", IBM Taps CockroachDB for PostgreSQL
Links for the day
"Happy Hacking Day" Richard Stallman Talk This Afternoon (From 14:00 to 16:00) at Haaga-Helia University in Pasila
Richard Stallman in Helsinki, Finland
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 08, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 08, 2025
Links 09/10/2025: Impact of Microsoft Layoffs, More Data Breaches
Links for the day
Gemini Links 09/10/2025: Autumn Blues and C IRC Bot
Links for the day
Slopwatch Appreciated by Real Authors of GNU/Linux Articles
We do try to keep on top of those things
Upgraded R.R.R.R.R.R. Today
The Web of 2025 is full of garbage, not limited to slopfarms
Freedom From Proprietary Prisons
Forking always an option
IBM's Watson Died in 1956, Now Watson Dies Again
IBM is becoming just a reseller of GAFAM and other stuff
Microsoft Says That Constant Mass Layoffs Are Success, the Media Isn't Buying This Microsoft Narrative Anymore
If people in the media feel an obligation to repeat whatever lies Microsoft tells, what point will there be to the media?
Links 08/10/2025: "Mali Puts Free Speech on Trial" And Apple Enforces Dictatorship
Links for the day
Links 08/10/2025: ‘Death to Spotify’ and Law to Ban Loud Commercials on Streaming (Dis)Services
Links for the day
Links 08/10/2025: Real Innovation and Nina.chat is Dead
Links for the day
Links 08/10/2025: Y2K38 Bug is a Vulnerability, Chat Control in Europe a Threat
Links for the day
Microsoft Windows is No Longer an Operating System, It's Surveillance Project
Why is this even legal to preload on PCs outside the US?
How and Why Once-Legitimate Sites Turn Into Slopfarms
Many sites will go offline and many social control networks will shut down once they realise or even openly admit they spend money and time gardening a bunch of bots and slop
UbuntuPIT Became a Slopfarm and Gnoppix Tarnishes Its Own Brand With Slop
It fits all the characteristics of mildly-edited (if at all) slop
Slopwatch: Linux Journal and Other Slopfarms
GAFAM needs to go the way of the dodo
Gemini Links 08/10/2025: "Seek Seek Revolution" and Gradient Backgrounds
Links for the day
Qualcomm Arduino Takes Aim at Raspberry Pi
Qualcomm is a Microsoft partner
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 07, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 07, 2025
Stagnation of the Economy and What Free Software Can (or Could) Do For It
If your economic model is based on a pyramid of lies, it won't last very long
Social Control Media is Sinking
it would rightly seem like the era of centralised "social" sites (they're not social, they're about controlling the users) is ending, not overnight but gradually
Participation in Cancel Culture Detrimental to One's Career
A cautionary tale
Passion Wins
we've increased the number of birds we feed to 100+
How Solderpunk and Sean Conner Started Gemini Protocol (and, Collectively, Geminispace) Back in 2019
Based on the "official" history
Arduino is Now a Patent Bully (Qualcomm)
Qualcomm has just bought Arduino
Many Years of Microsoft Cancellations and Faked (Acquired) Revenue "Growth"
XBox is basically the "next Skype"
The Comment TheLayoff.com Has Just Censored for Criticising a Ridiculous Puff Piece of IBM Management
If comments get censored for their "style" rather than their substance, then society will be worse off
The Power of Writing Down Facts
The more we write and publish, the more people will know what happened
Microsoft's Non-Denying Denial About XBox's Death is Already Being Shattered to Pieces
Like Microsoft's 'open' 'hey hi', heralding meaningless non-committing agreements with AMD is little more than vapourware
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT Joins the Slopfarms Club
Slopfarms gonna slop
Links 07/10/2025: Privacy at Risk, GAFAM Remains Off the Hook
Links for the day
Gemini Links 07/10/2025: Modern Retro Console Idea and Batch vs Bash
Links for the day
Links 07/10/2025: International Criminal Court (ICC) Convicts Ali Kushayb; Moroccan Imprisoned for 'Offensive' Shirt
Links for the day
Links 07/10/2025: EU' Chat Control is Back, US Cracks Down on Democracy
Links for the day
Techrights Pursues Justice and Truth Because, Without Those, Society Descends Into Chaos
most people reject dogma and pseudoscience
Upcoming Talks by Richard Stallman in Helsinki, Göteborg, and Rome
Join with him and share the software
Something Bad is Happening in the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
The latest OSI blog post is from a Microsoft operative and a few weeks ago the Executive Director left
TLS 1.3 Dominates Geminispace (99% of Known Capsules)
it's nowadays safe to assume almost every capsule can handle TLS 1.3
Why soylentnews.org Has Been Having Technical Difficulties Lately
The network has been going up and down quite a lot this past week
A Statement Against Violence
The facts are on our side
They've Run Out of Things to Rebrand or Label as "AI"
The next few years will be interesting because if Microsoft lays off tens of thousands of workers each year, there won't be much left except mountains of debt and dying brands
The Register MS is Still Being Paid to Participate in the "AI" Ponzi Scheme Which Will Crash the Economy
The Register MS is hoping to get lucky by tricking people into a scam
Richard Stallman Confirms His Talk in Göteborg This Coming Friday
"The hosts say that the list will not be given to the state"
Most of the "Linux" Results This Morning in Google News Are LLM Slop From the Same Slopfarm, Plagiarising Phoronix
The main question is, does Google even care at this point?
Gemini Links 07/10/2025: Civil War and "Goodbye Web"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 06, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 06, 2025