ooxml process in Greece

The Greek Head of Delegation is elected amid questions on the legality of the procedure

In the meeting of 2008-02-21 of the Technical Committee 48 of ELOT (the Greek ISO National Body), Sokratis Maanian was elected as Head of the Greek Delegation to the OpenXML Ballot Resolution Meeting, rather than Antonis Christofides, with 8 votes against 6. The vote was secret, despite the protest by Antonis Christofides. In addition, four additional organisations had been appointed committee members without prior notification.

http://elot.ece.ntua.gr/te48/ooxml/2008-02-21-meeting-en

Developers warned over OOXML patent risk

"David Vaile, executive director of the Cyberspace Law and Policy Center at the University of New South Wales, said that Microsoft participants at a recent symposium on the issue found it challenging to explain how an ordinary person 'or even an ordinary lawyer' could easily determine which parts of the specification were covered. 'This lack of certainty would mean a cautious lawyer may be reluctant to advise any third party to rely on the promise without extensive and potentially quite expensive analysis, and even that could be inconclusive,' Vaile said. 'In turn, this could restrict its viability as a usable standard for less well-resourced users, including small developers and many public organizations.'"

zdnetasia