We are still keeping an eye on behind-closed-doors deals. We see plenty of manipulation which is intended to buy Microsoft's monopoly some more support. Apart from Novell, Xandros, and Linspire, we have been seeing various countries where support for OOXML was 'bought' rather than earned. Groklaw has a batch of recent stories. Among them:

If you read about what happened there in that article, "OOXML in Norway: The haywire process," your jaw will simply drop. I do think there is something the matter with the ISO process if this is how it works.

To find out more about Norway, read this report.

I believe that anything that sanctions unfair competition is bad. I believe in a world where the threshold for competition is low and where everyone are free to easily innovate.

Instead of (or in addition to) stacking, Microsoft seems to be spawning more support at the 90^th. Let's call it "panel saturation" rather than "panel stacking". Whatever comes out of this, remember what Microsoft did to get there. People in Groklaw have asked if legal action can be taken. The torrent of public letters protesting against this has not been effective enough.

Related stories:

• Microsoft Hires Programmer to edit Wikipedia Entry For OOXML



• No is no, to OOXML



• What Happened in Germany [on OOXML]



• IBM is still locked out of the Portuguese OOXML meeting



• Latest INCITS Voting Results on OOXML; JTC1 Vote Begins to be Stacked



• Microsoft Looks for the Big Guns in OOXML In-Fighting