Debate on OOXML standard continues behind closed doors

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There's not much to photograph, in any case, said one delegate. "There's no shouting, no throwing chairs. It's all very polite."

The committee must find some way to deal with all 1,100 comments by Friday night -- although that may not mean discussing them individually. Three proposals are apparently on the table for disposing of comments unresolved at the end of the meeting: to accept ECMA's recommendations without modification, to reject ECMA's recommendations and leave the draft unchanged on the unresolved matters, or to conduct a paper ballot on each.

While the third of those options sounds the most democratic, it robs national delegations of the opportunity to propose their own modifications, say those involved. Yet allowing delegations to submit other options to a paper ballot after the meeting is itself fraught with complications, as there is no guarantee of a majority vote -- and then no meeting in which to reach consensus.

After the meeting closes, the editor of the draft standard will compile all the approved modifications into a new draft. Delegates will report back to their national standards bodies, and each will have 30 days to decide whether they approve the revised text and seal OOXML's fate as an international standard.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.