However, it has absolutely nothing to do with OpenXML (except insofar as it helps undermine one of the reasons put forward for making OpenXML an ISO/IEC standard).

I have gone into these and related issues ad nauseam on http://doyoulovems.com

http://www.wto.org/English/docs_e/legal_e/gpr-94_01_e.htm
Article VI: Technical Specifications
4. Entities shall not seek or accept, in a manner which would have the effect of precluding competition, advice which may be used in the preparation of specifications for a specific procurement from a firm that may have a commercial interest in the procurement.

We have the National Archive being duped my M$ into buying M$'s virtualisation software and servers so they can run Windows 95 and old versions of MS Office! It's absolutely ridiculous.

Here's there news item: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/stories/164.htm and most intriguing of all is this comment at the bottom
“Adam Farquhar, Head of eArchitecture at the British Library and co-chair of the Office OpenXML standards committee said:…”

The UK is being steamrollered….

Dear XX,

As a user of Microsoft Office, you may be aware that Open XML has been successfully
established as an ECMA standard (ECMA International is an industry association founded in
1961, dedicated to the standardisation of information and communication systems). Microsoft
is also undergoing a process of validation for Open XML to become a ratified ISO standard.
If we are successful in ratifying Open XML as an ISO standard, you will benefit as follows:
An Open Standard for the Industry. Open XML documents are completely accessible
with fully documented file specifications and schemas, and license rights that enables
all developers (even open source developers) to take advantage of them in their
Integration of Business Information with Documents. Open XML documents will improve
productivity and maximize IT investment by speeding document assembly, data mining and
content reuse;
Compact, Robust File Format. Open XML documents have smaller file sizes and improved
recovery of corrupted documents enabling users to operate efficiently and confidently;
Full support for existing Office users and developers. To ensure the Open XML
Formats can be easily adopted, Microsoft has delivered tools so that previous versions
of Microsoft Office can read and write to the formats, and continues to provide
technical resources to help partners, developers and IT professionals prepare for the
change.

I am asking for your assistance to support the Open XML ISO Standarisation process. To do so,
simply reply to this email confirming your support. I will use your confirmation of support as
part of Microsoft Ireland´s submission to the National Standards Authority of Ireland.
With your permission I will ask your account manager to call you next week in relation to this,
however, in the meantime, if you need further clarification, please feel free to contact me by
email or directly on 01 7063113.

Kind regards,

Joe Macri
Managing Director
Microsoft Ireland