Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Under Fire: Open Source Software Thematic Group Complains About EIFv2 Subversion, NHS Software Supplier Under Criminal Investigation



Summary: Public documents and operations that Microsoft helped subvert are continuing to draw fire

SO MANY times we have already covered complaints about the EIF (version 2), which lobbyists of Microsoft helped change. See references in the links below.

  1. European Interoperability Framework (EIF) Corrupted by Microsoft et al, Its Lobbyists
  2. Orwellian EIF, Fake Open Source, and Security Implications
  3. No Sense of Shame Left at Microsoft
  4. Lobbying Leads to Protest -- the FFII and the FSFE Rise in Opposition to Subverted EIF
  5. IBM and Open Forum Europe Address European Interoperability Framework (EIF) Fiasco
  6. EIF Scrutinised, ODF Evolves, and Microsoft's OOXML “Lies” Lead to Backlash from Danish Standards Committee
  7. Complaints About Perverted EIF Continue to Pile Up
  8. More Complaints About EIFv2 Abuse and Free Software FUD from General Electric (GE)
  9. Patents Roundup: Copyrighted SQL Queries, Microsoft Alliance with Company That Attacks F/OSS with Software Patents, Peer-to-Patent in Australia


According to this new post from CMS Wire, the Open Source Software Thematic Group is another complainer we have not yet mentioned. We missed it. Here is the letter of complaint, which we append at the bottom. The post also says:

The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure offers ten recommendations for improving the version 2 and preserving "a strong definition of 'open standards and specifications' in a way that patent cartels do not qualify for the gold standard."

These ten recommendations are:

1. Align the EIF 2.0 with the new General Principles from the Interoperability Solutions for European Public Administrations (ISA) document, which calls for technological neutrality and adaptability, openness, reusability, privacy and personal protection of data and security. 2. Improve interoperability terminology to once again align with the ISA's definition rather than the new watered down one. 3. Market Order and public constituency by creating better functioning markets with increased interoperability. 4. Deletion of Chapter 3 and its empty talk. 5. Administrative principles such as not tasking public administration with lobbying for political support of interoperability efforts. 6. Avoid capture and dilution of interest with weak phrases and definitions. 7. Adjust to public administrative needs. 8. Open standards, not open concepts, by reinstating the proper definition of open standards. 9. Open assessment and continuum to allow government bodies to assess where an offering falls on the "openness continuum". 10. Problem-oriented approach by focusing on identifying and solving interoperability problems.

Other Organizations Speak Out

Other organizations have also expressed their strong concerns, such as the OW2 Consortium and the Open Source Software Thematic Group.


We previously wrote about what Microsoft had done to the NHS [1, 2, 3, 4], which is Britain's national healthcare organisation. There is another scandal there and it relates to those who supplied software (iSoft is a Microsoft partner).

The Financial Services Authority has confirmed that it is starting criminal proceedings against four former directors of iSoft Group plc - the major provider of patient records software for the NHS's National Programme for IT.

[...]

It said at that time that commercial director Steve Graham, and another employee, had been put on special leave following a company investigation into accounting irregularities in 2004 and 2005.

iSoft shares collapsed in the wake of that news and in September 2006 it emerged that the Department of Health had bailed out the struggling software firm with €£82m of taxpayers' cash.


Earlier today we wrote about a possible lawsuit against Microsoft in Italy. Clearly, justice has a way of catching up sooner or later.




Open Letter to the EC about Open Standards and Interoperability







From:  "Stefane Fermigier" <sf-AT-nuxeo.com>
To:  lwn-AT-lwn.net
Subject:  Open Letter to the EC about Open Standards and Interoperability
Date:  Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:39:26 +0100
Message-ID:  <20091123163926.DDB8B5AAF6@gateway.nuxeo.com>
Archive-link:  Article, Thread

Hi,



our Open Source Software Thematic Group became deeply concerned two weeks ago after we learned that the European Commission was preparing a new version of the European Interoperability Framework (EIF) with definitions of interoperability, open standards and maybe even open source completely void of any substance, allowing any proprietary software vendor to claim being compatible with the new guidelines.

This concern was, to our knowledge, first publicised by Glyn Moody in his blog:

http://www.computerworlduk.com/toolbox/open-source/blogs/...

To react and try to protect the useful and actionable definitions contained in EIF v1, we've just written an open letter to Commissioner Kallas and Mr Garcia Moran:

http://www.gt-logiciel-libre.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/...

Other useful references about this subject include:

- http://action.ffii.org/eif from our friends as FFII - http://www.ow2.org/view/Events/OpenLetterIEF from our friends at OW2

Our original announcement (in french) is here: http://www.gt-logiciel-libre.org/2009/11/lettre-ouverte-e...

Regards,

S. Fermigier, Chairman System@tic Free / Open Source Software Thematic Group, aka GTLL

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft is Disloyal Towards Its Most Loyal Employees
Against its most faithful enablers
Following the Line of Cocaine All the Way to the Top
Even a million denials and spin-doctoring won't distract from the core issue
Thankfully We've Made Copies of More Interesting Data From statCounter
If statCounter (the Web site or the 'webapp') vanished overnight, we'd still have something left of it
More Silent Layoffs at IBM/Red Hat
when the media counts such layoffs or presents tallies the numbers are very incomplete
 
Links 27/10/2025: Wikipedia Vandalism, Bruce Perens Opens up on Childhood
Links for the day
This Site Could Not be Done by LLMs Even If It Wanted to (Because It's Not a Parrot of What Other Sites Say)
LLMs have no knowledge or deep understanding
19 Years, No Censorship
No factual information is ever going to be removed, more so if it is in the public interest
We Are Not a Conventional Site, That's Why They Hate (or Love) Us
Throughout the week this week we'll be focusing on the EPO
The Cocaine Patent Office - Part I: António Campinos Brought Corruption and Nepotism to the EPO, Then Came the Cocaine
High-level manager at the European Patent Office (EPO) caught in public with cocaine, the Office has some answering to do
Purchasing/Possessing Computers Isn't the Same as Controlling Computers
Let's strive to put computers back under the control of their users, no matter who purchased these (usually the users)
Gemini Links 27/10/2025: Alhena 5.4.3 and Fixing Bash
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 26, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 26, 2025
Links 26/10/2025: Microsoft Spies on Gamers, Open Transport Community Conference
Links for the day
Links 26/10/2025: LLM Slop / Plagiarism Programs Continue to Disappoint, CISA Layoffs Threaten Systems
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/10/2025: Gemsync and Joining the Small Web
Links for the day
India.com a Click-baiting, SEO-Spamming, Slopfarming Heap
They do this almost every day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 25, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 25, 2025
Without XBox Consoles, XBox is No More, It's Just a Brand (More Rumours of Microsoft Ending XBox, Then Laying Off Lots of Staff)
All signs indicate that Microsoft wants to "exit" the XBox business (not brand), but it does not want to publicly admit this as it would alarm staff and shareholders
Gemini Links 25/10/2025: Portugal, Midnightpub, and "Tech Right Admins"
Links for the day
Almost 2026 Already (When We Turn Twenty)
In just over a year the site will turn 20
When "Sponsored Feature" in The Register MS Means Ponzi Scheme Promotion From the Communist Party of China (CPC)
the promotion of a financial scam
Week of EPO Leaks: Workers of the EPO Are Getting a Pay Cut While Prices Rise Fast
More to come in the next few days
Microsoft is Finally Giving Up on XBox, The Chief Says the Grapes Are Sour Anyway
Microsoft loses hundreds of dollars on each XBox that it sells
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, UbuntuPIT, and Various Slopfarms Propped up by Google News
Why can't Google News do better than this?
Links 25/10/2025: Two New Smokescreens for Scam Altman and ‘TikTok USA’ Remains in Limbo
Links for the day
Bad faith: can't change Debian Social Contract (DSC) without unanimous consent of every joint author
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Confirmed: Very Close Friend of Bill Gates and Microsoft's Biggest Patent Troll Nathan Myhrvold Flew the Lolita Express (a Gateway to Pedophilia), According to Bill Gates-Sponsored Seattle Times
There is no speculation or any "conspiracy theories" here;' those are verified facts
Gemini Links 25/10/2025: "The Highest Leader of The Global Civil Society Community", SSL Certificates Causing Bitrot
Links for the day
Links 25/10/2025: Target Layoffs and "Shutdown Sparks 85% Increase in US Government Cyberattacks"
Links for the day
"Big Data" Was a Big Lie
Remember "Big Data"? Remember "Data Scientists"...?
statCounter Has Been Broken for a Long Time
Considering the huge proportion of Web requests that come from LLM bots (more so this past year or two), statCounter may struggle to justify the operating costs
Techrights Anniversary Party on November 7th
Let us know if you need any accommodation-related arrangements
Trends That Must Alarm Microsoft and Mozilla
Expect Firefox to no longer be supported by various sites in the US
Why Microsoft Became the Layoffs Leader
The corporate media is projecting or signalling its own dishonesty when it tells us that Microsoft is a very "valuable" company while the data shows Microsoft is also a "market leader" in layoffs
Speaking for Ourselves and Letting the Facts Speak for Themselves
we've already published over 50,000 pages
For Second Time in a Day The Register MS Takes Money From Private Companies to Sell a Ponzi Scheme
Do not have empathy for those who have zero empathy towards you
IBM is Misleading IBM Shareholders
IBM is still all about vapourware and buzzwords
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 24, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 24, 2025