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More OOXML BRM Messiness: A Delegate from Brazil Challenges "Law of Silence"

By Pamela Jones et al.

More issues now have surfaced regarding some tactics being used to get OOXML approved as a standard. This time it's from a delegate from Brazil, who is challenging the "Law of Silence," the expression he coined in an earlier blog post for the restrictions on revealing details of the BRM meeting. He alleges that he believes Microsoft has itself violated it. It relates to Microsoft's claim that 98% of issues were resolved at the meeting, which he says is inaccurate, but his question relates to why Microsoft can talk about the BRM and no one else can. He thought that number was handled at the BRM, when a slide with that figure on it was shown, challenged, and he thought handled; yet he hears from a colleague in Chile that the same slide just showed up there, with the same figure, and with Dr. Sam Gyun Oh's name on the slide, the Chairman of SC 34, in a "presentation made by Microsoft to demonstrate how everything was resolved in OpenXML".

The Brazilian delegate has written to ITTF, asking about the validity of the confidentiality requirement and asking if it's valid for all, why something isn't happening to enforce it on Microsoft. He says if he doesn't receive a timely answer, he will answer all media questions about the meeting.

Full post as published by Groklaw on March 24, 2008 (boomark / email).