South Africa protests approval of Microsoft file format as international standard

The Associated Press ,  Geneva, Switzerland  

South Africa has lodged an appeal against the decision to make Microsoft Corp.’s Open XML format an internationally recognized standard for electronic documents, officials said Wednesday.

The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) sent a letter of protest to two Geneva-based organizations that held a worldwide ballot on Microsoft’s application last month, complaining that the process was poorly conducted and rushed.

SABS Chief Executive Martin Kuscus sent the letter to the International Standards Organization and the International Electrotechnical Commission. The letter is dated May 22.

“We challenge the validity of a process that, from beginning to end, required all parties to analyze far too much information in far too little time,” Kuscus said.

Supporters of the rival format ODF have claimed that Microsoft used strong-arm tactics to win approval from the national committees that voted on the new standard last month.

“It is our opinion that the process followed during all stages of this fast track has harmed the reputations of both ISO and IEC,” Kuscus said, adding that “negative publicity has, in turn, also harmed the reputation of all member bodies of ISO and IEC.”

The appeal means Microsoft will have to wait at least another month before knowing for sure whether the file format — known as OOXML — is approved as an open standard. Many lucrative government contracts require the use of open formats.

Microsoft argues that it has opened up the once-proprietary technology used by its Office 2007 software to work smoothly with competing programs. But opponents say OOXML still locks out competitors and gives Microsoft customers no choice but to keep buying its programs forever.

Microsoft declined to comment on the complaint Wednesday. “This is an issue between ISO/IEC and the South African member standards body, so it would not be appropriate for us to comment on this specific situation,” the Redmond-based software giant said in a statement.

IEC said South Africa’s was the only appeal it had received to date, but that other countries have until May 31 to follow suit.

“We have the procedures and the processes in place to deal with the appeal,” IEC spokesman Jonathan Buck said.

“The onus is on the member making the appeal to come up with the solution to move the matter forward,” he said. (****)

Source: thejakartapost.com/