There's something rotten in the state of Norway

April 9, 2008 · by Haavard

How did Norway come to vote yes to Microsoft's OOXML format? Not only did the vast majority attending the meeting vote against the proposed standard, but the people who let it through admitted that it was a broken standard which would need fixing later.

Standards Norway chose to ignore all the obvious flaws in the proposed standard, and the fact that the vast majority was against it. Their defense does not convince most people, and there are several irregularities with the process, such as Microsoft partners in Norway having sent 37 identical letters written by Microsoft to Standards Norway in support of OOXML.

Read more about the OOXML scandal in Norway, which has now been met with a formal protest, and today, people will take to the streets to protest as well. According to Knut Yrvin, the EU has also written a letter to Norwegian authorities, asking some tough questions. Let's hope Standards Norway and Norwegian authorities are not let off the hook for this one, and that the people responsible for this mess will be made accountable for their actions.

Readers' comments 2

Left under the original article, as archived.

Øyvind ØstlundWednesday, April 9, 2008 2:36:32 PM
I read the list of the 37 companies signing the letter. Nice list of companies you probably won't send your resume to

I talked to a couple of friends in a couple of the companies, and they of course knew nothing about it up front.

- ØØ -
Unregistered userWednesday, May 7, 2008 7:51:03 PM
Anonymous writes: Dette var ikke bra.