DG Competition requests information from competitors about Word, Excel, Ecma 376

[marbux <marbux@gmail.com>]

<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a4GPYA7R4Xy4&refer=home>

So let's see: JTC1 is fast tracking Ecma 376 whilst the European DG
Competition is investigating whether Ecma 376 violates the antitrust
laws because of non-disclosure of technology needed to implement it.
Could this be any more embarrassing for ISO and JTC-1?

And just how precisely might ISO give meaning to the following
guidance from the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade?

"2.2 Members shall ensure that technical regulations are not
**prepared,** adopted or applied with a view to or with the effect of
creating unnecessary obstacles to international trade. ..."

<http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/analytic_index_e/tbt_01_e.htm#article2A>

If such standards are not even to be "prepared," does the new JTC-1
Directive section allowing draft standards to be processed despite
contradictions comply with   the treaty? And isn't the fact that a
duplicative draft standard is being "prepared" slowing the uptake of
the existing standard? And if so, does that not have "the effect of
creating unnecessary obstacles to international trade?" One could
reasonably argue, I think, that every operating environment error
message upon attempting to open an OpenDocument file informing the
user that "file type not recognized" is an "unnecessary obstacle to
international trade." Hence there is a strong argument that Ecma 376
should not be "prepared" as an international standard.

Best regards,

Marbux