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WTF!!! see last message Tom te tom te tom ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: Microsoft and OOXML (Ref Pott001/1) Date: Wednesday 09 April 2008 15:23 From: "Graham Watson MEP \(Casework\)" <casework@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: tompotts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Dear Mr Potts, Thank you for your email of 3 April regarding Microsoft and OOXML. The development of new software is very important, however it is critical that large corporations like Microsoft do not abuse their current dominance in the market place so as to push up prices. I am pleased that the European Commission has recently flexed its muscles and imposed a mighty fine of £680.9Million on Microsoft for its anti competitive practices. No company is above the law, and the European Union is able to work on behalf of consumers in instances such as this so as to send a clear message to companies who wish to be in the market that they must play by the market's rules. I am aware of concerns raised by many constituents over OOXML, and I recently contacted Mr Lambert, Microsoft's Director of Government Affairs in Europe, and I have received a reply which you will find below. Please be assured I will continue to monitor developments in this area. Thank you for contacting me on this important matter and if I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerley, Graham Watson MEP Member of the European Parliament for South West England and Gibraltar and Leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe in the European Parliament While Graham Watson MEP will treat as confidential any personal information that you pass on, he will normally allow staff and authorised volunteers to see it if this is needed to help and advise you. He may pass on all or some of the information to external agencies if this is necessary to help with your case. Graham Watson MEP may wish to write to you from time to time to keep you informed on issues which you may find of interest. Please let him know if you do not wish to be contacted for this purpose. P Please do not print this e-mail unless absolutely necessary Save energy: switch off your PC when you leave at night Dear Graham Thank you for your mail and my apologies for the extended delay in replying to your constituent's enquiry. Microsoft was asked by the EU to submit its file formats to a recognised standards body: which it has now done. We recognise many customers and partners would prefer the Microsoft Office file formats to be under independent, standards maintenance than under Microsoft's. We have listened to and responded to these requests. The Open XML file format is no longer owned or controlled by Microsoft. It has been adopted as an open international standard by Ecma International. Ecma International has now submitted Open XML to ISO and it is currently being reviewed by national standards bodies who will decide whether it should become an ISO standard. In the UK, important organisations such as the British Library, have supported Open XML becoming an independent standard: precisely because it means the file format will be open and under independent standards control, not that of Microsoft. More recently, independent reports have indicated that Open XML is a rich file format (see for example the Burton Group report at http://www.burtongroup.com/Guest/Ccs/WhatsUpDoc.aspx (free registration required). The information contained in this report is extremely supportive of the quality of the Open XML standard, the technical superiority of Open XML compared to other document file formats and its growing adoption in both the public and private sectors. Open XML has already proved to be widely portable - with versions available now for Mac, Linux and for competing office suites such as Open Office. This is enabling competitors to provide their own alternatives to Microsoft products, but to use an interoperable file format, namely Open XML. ISO and Ecma have publicly declared that there are no IPR issues or concerns with Open XML. (See http://www.jtc1sc34.org/repository/0932.htm and http://www.ecma-international.org/news/TC45_current_work/Ecma%20responses.pd f (Sec. 2.2).) In terms of how Open XML has been scrutinised by ISO, it in fact received more outright yes votes than ODF did when it was standardised by ISO. However it was blocked from acceptance as an ISO standard in the first round of voting. This process is continuing, with a meeting of ISO at the end of February and then a final round of voting in March. If you have any further queries, I'd be happy to meet to discuss them. -------------------------------------------------------
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