People are smart. When you breach the rules people shout. The government investigation has little significance. It is always difficult to prove "corruption" without raids and I guess that no real criminal corruption was involved. Just that the ISO process was compromised. A social contract was broken.

"If the people deciding have no more connection to the facts than the folks rendering their opinions on OOXML, we are either all dead or on a path to another Dark Ages."

People are smart. People remember. People fight back.

I think some issues are being confused in the article.  For instance, the question of whether OOXML is better or worse than ODF is different than the question of whether OOXML should be an ISO standard.  Lots of people may find ODF unacceptable for their needs.  Many people may find OOXML useful.  But that doesn't mean OOXML should be an ISO standard. 

An ISO standard should allow for implementation cross platform from different vendors - without having to beg for more information from Microsoft.  An ISO standard should be able to get dates right.  This is just the tip of the iceberg for why OOXML should not become an ISO standard.  These reasons to not accept OOXML as an ISO standard would still exist even if ODF didn't. 

The author says, "Never before have I seen a vendor that has the existing standard for anything challenged in this fashion. "  That vendor is MS.  That makes OOXML the referenced "existing standard"?  Besides the recent ISO stamp of approval, I don't think OOXML could be considered "an existing standard."  I work in a document-heavy industry and I don't know anyone who saves documents in OOXML.  The few Word 2007 users I know of all save their documents in the binary .doc format.

To say "Microsoft doesn't have the power," is a bit nieve.

Microsoft showed in Sweden how easy it was to "turn out the vote" from your "gold partners."  The only unfortunate thing (for Microsoft) in Sweden is that they were caught.  (Remember that email from Microsoft offering special "incentives" to partners to vote?  Of course, Microsoft claimed that was an unfortunate exception.)  Why is it that corrupt countries suddenly signed up to vote?  Do you think Microsoft pursuaded them somehow? 

With the way Microsoft gamed ths system - which is no secret, just read the press - most people (even MS fans) would probably say that Microsoft "cheated."  MS certainly didn't play by the spirit of the rules.  MS may have even broken the law in some instances and may have abused their monopoly power.

Oh, I just found this mini-resume on Wikipedia:

, is a consultant, writer, and widely quoted technical and legal analyst in the information technology industry. Microsoft, Advanced Micro Devices, the SCO Group, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell are (or have been) among his clients.[1]

Enderle has been critical of Apple Computer and Linux, as well as Unix and the open source/free software movements in general. In particular, he has described Linux as a free-software scam,[2] and he has compared some Linux advocates to terrorists, predicting that one of them  or perhaps a group of them  will go too far at some point and do significant damage to the open-source movement, the ongoing litigation with SCO or their employers.[3] Nevertheless, Enderle was a featured speaker at the Desktop Linux Summit 2006.[4]

Before founding the Enderle Group, Enderle was a founding analyst at Giga Information Group (acquired by Forrester Research), Dataquest (acquired by Gartner) 5, IBM, ROLM (acquired by IBM), and The Walt Disney Company.

Rob Enderle has been a vocal commentator in the ongoing high-def format war writing for Digital Trends. 6 His credibility has been publicly called into question on the topic, being charged with claiming to be an independent observer while on the payroll of Toshiba. 7

--

And, now, he's defending OOXML...

You sound like a Microsoft apologist.  Time to get with the program and support alternatives.  Innovation and change is the only way technology grows, and not supporting the same old thing that continues to control the market.  Forget what Durusau says.  ODF would eventually create some alternative that the rest of us non-MS users would use thus creating healthy competition and a true open-source format.

So do you trust this author? Do you think Rob E. is being sincere in his "opinion"? I do not believe he is being sincere at all. What are his motives? Is this how to make an honest living?

What we need here would be some facts instead of spin...

Please refer to http://www.grokoaw.net for more information on OOXML.

@ Ken

Are you for real? You say we need facts instead of spin and then link to groklaw (IBM's FUD outlet), please tell me you're joking.

Rob, I believe I can comprehend what you are saying here.  However, I see it as one facet of the big truth.  Sure, human beings can deceive themesleves.  The other part is all business.  While no bullets may be fired, business competition is an ongoing game of psychological warfare.  SCO is the poster child for this (although, hopefully not for too much longer).  Steve Ballmer give a number for IP infringements found in Linux distributions, but offers nothing useful.   It will be difficult, if not impossible, to allay suspicions at this point.  I believe we are well past that point, actually.

I do apologize for the duplicate posting.  It was not intentional.

Dearest Darcy, you may complain about groklaw and spin but it is difficult to do it with a straight face when everything is referenced so well.  You may not like the groklaw interpretation but you can at least view the source and decide for yourself.  However, that site and this one are not the same.  I don't expect long treatises with a multitude of references.

I also don't believe the adjectives thrown at Rob do anything but give the writer some kind personal feeling of power.  Rob Enderle writes and speaks from his perspective.  He is more open to reason than some may think...again, he is more open to reason, though out opinions and interpretations.  Rob knows I am squarely in the FOSS camp yet we respect mutual civility.

Rob, about how much power Microsoft may have, leverage is where you find it and apply it.  Microsoft still has great leverage in some areas.  Those areas may be shrinking.  In fact, I make my own prediction, Microsoft needs to adapt to the new era or it will not fare well.  I think the non-distribution of Samzidat was a pivotal moment in time.  I still home Mr. Brown will make the full text available online.  I must agree with the one writer.  Microsoft is not forced to adopt or to not use any protocol.  They can go their own way any time.  Conversely, a Microsoft standard is not an ISO or other standard until it becomes a standard that all can use.  If Microsoft wishes to continue living in Bill Gates orginal proprietary hell then let them revel in their glorious past.  Ballmer and Gates would have us living in their version of Brave New World (or is that Father Knows Best).  I understand that IBM, Oracle and some others continue to wield power of their own.  But this is about the desktop and about file sharing for the masses.  Let the elite eat their own cake.