Microsoft promises not to sue over OOXML as ISO vote deadline nears

As Microsoft continues to try and get its OOXML document format accepted by the International Standards Organization, it has attempted to play the nice-guy card. Microsoft promised that it will not sue over the specification including future versions of it. It placed a caveat on this commitment, though. The promise holds true as long as Microsoft remains involved in controlling the OOXML's development, the Channel Register reports.

Microsoft said that it will apply its Open Specification Promise - which is basically a promise not to sue over usage of a Microsoft specification - to OOXML. However, the wording of the promise left confusion as to exactly how safe developers were, as ZDNet Australia reports:

The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) recently warned that patent protections would only cover current, not future, versions of the specification, drawing attention to Microsoft's wording of the OSP: "New versions of previously covered specifications will be separately considered for addition to the list."

Yesterday, Microsoft's Asia-Pacific tech officer Oliver Bell announced on his blog that the OSP promise will also, most definitely, cover future versions, with a caveat. He wrote:

"As long as Microsoft participates in the revision process to completion, Microsoft irrevocably commits to apply the OSP that future version of IS29500 [the OOXML specification]."

Microsoft wants to stay involved (if not in the driver's seat). Bell points to similar caveats he says are used by IBM and Sun over standards they, too, have turned over to the standards bodies. (But, Mr. Bell, just because other folks are doin' it, doesn't make it right.)

The deadline for the ISO vote is midnight Saturday. Denmark announced on Friday that it was changing its "no" vote to "yes." Much speculation exists on if Britain will also change its no to a yes.

Meanwhile, accusations are flying that the vote process in Poland was manipulated. The apparent manipulation is a long and involved story but includes a bit about a letter in which the leader of Poland's standards body said he wanted a consensus of all OOXML committee members. If consensus could not be achieved, he wanted the committee to abstain from voting. Slyly, the chairwoman of the OOXML group allegedly failed to mention this letter to committee members and instead called for an e-mail cast of votes under the guise that using e-mail would ensure that all members participated. But if a member failed to send her an e-mail vote, she considered the member to be voting "yes." Needless to say, the EU is investigating the matter.

Go to the Microsoft Subnet home page for more news, blogs, podcasts.

More Microsoft Subnet blog posts:
New Chinese antitrust law could affect Microsoft/Yahoo deal
Microsoft and its hostile takeover of Yahoo
SP1 standalone packages don't include updated help files
Patents schmatents
Microsoft versus social networking
All Microsoft Subnet blog posts

Sign up for the bi-weekly Microsoft newsletter. (Click on News/Microsoft News Alert.)