The Norwegian OOXML Scandal
Friday the 28th of March 2008, Norway voted «YES» on OOXML becoming an ISO standard. This is nothing else than a scandal. Here’s why.
Some background information
In Norway, the Norwegian Standards Institute called «Standards Norway», shortened SN, is the organization that makes the decision on Norway’s official vote on what’s becoming an ISO standard. Within SN, there’s a committee called SN K/185, a mirror committee to ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 34, which is set to discuss IT standards such as ODF and OOXML.
I am a member of SN K/185 and this is my thoughts on the process.
In Norway, SN is not obligated to listen to the committee. The administration of SN is able to make a decision that does not conform with the consensus of the committee.
Unfortunately, a lot of people underestimates the responsibility of SN. A committee like SN K/185 exists because it shall contain expertise that SN theirselves does not possess, so that SN may consult the committee when making decisions like this.
However, the problem in this matter is that the expertise where not listened to at all. In example, both Steve Pepper and Erlend Øverby has been members of SN K/185 since the committee was created in 1995. Both Pepper and Øverby are opponents of OOXML. As far as i know, none of the pro-OOXML members has been in the committee longer than the OOXML process has been running. It is extremely unfortunate and shocking that two of Norway’s experts in XML based standards has been completely rejected in this process.
Furthermore we find several other well-known standardization experts in SN K/185. We have Håkon Wium Lie, the man behind CSS, and Harald Alvestrand, former chair of the IETF. Both Wium Lie and Alvestrand are opponents of OOXML.
If we have a look at the pro-OOXML members, we find Shahzad Rana of Microsoft Norway, Eirik Lae Solberg of Microsoft Norway, Henriette Grønn of Microsoft Norway, Arne Jørgensen of Questpoint (where Shahzad Rana is chairman of the board) and Knut Tungland from StatoilHydro, one of Microsoft Norway’s largest customers. I am not going to discredit these people in any way, but it is obvious that we won’t find the standardization expertise among the pro-OOXML members.
Disregarding the expertise, SN chooses to vote «YES» on OOXML becoming an ISO standard, even though SN admit that OOXML is an immature standard. As a result, Steve Pepper today announced his withdrawal from SN K/185 in protest. When both Steve Pepper and Erlend Øverby after SN’s decision proclaims that 13 years of standardization work has been wasted, and now consider discontinuing their work in SN K/185, there is more than enough reason to investigate this process further.
