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

---