Re: [xml-dev] Microsoft buys the Swedish vote on OOXML?

[Jonathan Robie <jonathan.robie@redhat.com>]

Michael Kay wrote:
>> So you can be corrupt by using a product in your systems, 
>> having the vendor point out why it would be useful as a 
>> standard, and then joining the standards effort because it 
>> would benefit you?
>>     
>
> That's an absurd distortion of what I said.
>
> I would say the process has been corrupted if people are voting when the
> issue does not affect them directly, but only to demonstrate loyalty to
> their business "partners".
>   

And there's a huge difference between (1) actually getting involved in 
the standards process to develop a technology, and (2) showing up just 
before a vote in organized groups that significantly outnumber the 
members who have been involved in the actual discussion to influence the 
vote, without showing any sign of having actually read the 
specification. This has now happened by parties on both sides of the 
issue, and it completely sidesteps the kind of careful consideration 
that standards bodies are supposed to do, turning it into a pure contest 
of who can best manipulate the process.

Rick, Len - are you actually arguing that this is the way things should 
be done?

Jonathan