Hi Mirko,
* Mirko Boehm mirko@fsfe.org [2012-12-06 14:04:04 +0100]:
at the Microsoft presentation at the summit of newthinking I took a note to check the conditions under which the OData standard (the OASIS open data standard proposal, heavily industry influence) is licensed. Turns out it is the "Microsoft open specification promise" found here: http://www.microsoft.com/openspecifications/en/us/programs/osp/default.aspx
Was there already an analysis of how these terms align with our understanding of what an open standard is? And if not, is this something where we should communicate actively?
Please also have a look at:
http://fsfe.org/activities/os/msooxml-interoperability.en.html
Example #3: Microsoft's Open Specification Promise is not reliable legal coverage for complete interoperability
MS-OOXML files generated by MS Office 2007 contain content that is implementation defined. This is a cause for concern because content not described in the proposed specification has an unclear status regarding coverage under the Microsoft Open Specification Promised (OSP). OSP coverage is limited to patents "that are necessary to implement only the required portions of the Covered Specification that are described in detail and not merely referenced in such Specification." 8
The OSP states in the final sentence of paragraph two that "No other rights except those expressly stated in this promise shall be deemed granted, waived or received by implication, exhaustion, estoppel, or otherwise". 9 It appears reasonable to not rely on the OSP for content necessary to allow interoperability that is not described in detail or referenced in the proposed specification.
This concern becomes more acute if the document is saved in other variations of the proposed specification format. For example, XLSM documents contain unspecified content as well as binary content. XLSB documents contain content stored using a method apparently not described in the proposed specification. XSLX documents with a password are also stored using a document container apparently not covered by the proposed specification.
Also some information http://fsfe.org/activities/os/msooxml-idiosyncrasies.en.html
Regards, Matthias