● 03.28.08

●● Microsoft’s 90th-minute Software Patent Lie for OOXML

Posted in Deception, Free/Libre Software, GPL, Microsoft, Office Suites, Open XML, Standard at 12:06 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Talk about timing.

Yesterday, Groklaw exposed yet another serious gap in Microsoft’s so-called ‘Open’ Specification Promise. This didn’t stop Microsoft from pushing onto the press yet another article and claim that everyone is safe. Well, unless that “everyone” happens to be Microsoft’s #1 competitor, of course. Here is the article in question, in case you want to see for yourself how Microsoft 'writes the news'. Watch how they address the wrong question:

yet another serious gap

↺ article in question

Microsoft 'writes the news'

Microsoft: We won’t sue over future OOXML versions

Microsoft has assured coders that its Open Specification Promise — a pledge that it won’t sue developers using OOXML — will apply to future versions of the document format.

[...]

Linux Australia president Stewart Smith said Microsoft’s announcement has helped to allay fears over one issue that the SLFC raised but did not deal with its biggest concern: that the OSP-covered specifications are not compatible with the General Public License (GPL).