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ISO puts out a face-saving (it hopes) FAQ

By Pamela Jones et al.

Here's a new ISO FAQ that it hopes will convince you that it did a fine job handling the OOXML standards process. In it, it hints that it can withdraw approval of OOXML if Microsoft misbehaves about patents in the future:

What about hidden patent issues?

The ISO/IEC/ITU patent policy requires that licenses be available on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions to all patents needed to implement an ISO/IEC International Standard and/or ITU Recommendation, and that all identified patent owners make a declaration to that effect.

Microsoft, the holder of patents involved in the implementation of ISO/IEC 29500, has made such a declaration to ISO and IEC. If, after publication of the standard, it is determined that licenses to all required patents are not so available, one option would be to withdraw the International Standard.

By that they must mean they'll withdraw it if Microsoft misbehaves going *forward*. They surely didn't care about the way Microsoft dragged us all to this neck of the woods. The Microsoft OSP is discriminatory already, so as it is implemented, it will have to be implemented in a discriminatory way, because it was written that way. Patents and Linux and FOSS don't mix. So RAND terms in Microsoft's hands are discriminatory. Period. There is no escape from that problem.

Full post as published by Groklaw on April 15, 2008 (boomark / email).