"Standards" are specifications that are consensually determined as suitable for wide and universal use. "Standards" also serve as guidelines by which resources are used, shared and presented. Therefore, "standards" are mechanisms that impose what is broadly believed as an optimisation of society's resources.

As artists, we use and contribute to society's resources through our theoretical and practical reflections. These reflections are often based on a balance of the artist's internal valuing system and the external forces of the society in which the artist lives.

Because large-scale changes to society are enforced by the setting of standards, the specification and consequences of such standards are of deep concern to the artist. If a standard imposes purely commercially exploitable interactions, then such a standard impedes the very nature of creativity as socially rather than commercially responsive.

It has come to our attention that the OOXML specification is protected by multiple patents held by Microsoft Corporation. It also appears that OOXML is a platform dependent format, therefore tying its users to only one vendor. A single-vendor format cannot in principle become an international standard because an international standard requires that such can be used/implemented as broadly as possible by affected industries and other stakeholders around the world.

We also noted that OOXML is replete with trade secrets and non-disclosure, effectively limiting its relevance to its single vendor and giving it an unfair advantage. Thus, once adopted as an international standard, this could distort the market and stifle innovation and technical development.

Only by creating a global monopoly will such a standard be broadly used/implemented, and a monopoly on knowledge, language and trade is the death sentence for all creative and innovative acts.

The biases of OOXML are also problematic for a truly globally relevant standard. For example: We have learned that OOXML does not permit German Umlaut characters for the naming of zip parts while existing zip specifications do support the umlaut within current UTF standard; also, OOXML cannot write non-Latin characters in URLs, therefore over 40 ISO country members cannot write URLs in their own language with OOXML. The OOXML standard proposal does not include any means of indicating time zones for time stamps, so one does not know which time system is being used. OOXML is also an Anglo-Saxon biased specification; particularly OOXML's spreadsheet specification presents calendar problems that render it irrelevant to the Arab world and the Muslim countries. OOXML also contains a bug with regard to the 20th century calendar, disallowing dates before 1900 in spreadsheets.

Additionally, OOXML is not even compatible to the international norm (ISO/IEC 26300 OpenDocument). OOXML is designed only to be compatible with one company’s particular products. ISO adoption of OOXML under these terms is a violation of international law.

While it may be claimed that it is ideal to have a number of standards to choose from, the context within which such standards are used should also be carefully considered. So, although artists uphold freedom of expression, we should also try to be context-sensitive, to be informed, conscientious and responsible for our reflections and expressions as these become cultural entities and not just auto-therapeutic visual statements. Basically, we strive for a truly open, free and fair cultural environment for the exchange and contest of creative expressions and ideas. We expect international and national standards bodies to do the same in the economic environment, to be responsible for their power to say "no" to vested business interests that have previously been proven to engage in anti-competitive behavior.

Irregularities in connection with decision-making within the ISO has also come to our attention. We have also learned of a UK proposal to create a new working group within the ISO/SC34 to review and maintain office document formats including ISO/IEC 26300 OpenDocument and OOXML, should it be adopted. We find it alarming that significant changes within ISO procedures are being considered under the pressure of a fast-track process.

In a developing country such as the Philippines, the role of the artist is all the more crucial, as the artists themselves must struggle to establish the social value of the creative act. We strive that such a value by-pass private profit, corporate structures, exploitation and neo-colonialism. Here, art is operative in addressing the needs of our society, within our terms as a community of creators and innovators, and not within the terms of vested private interest.

The proposed ISO fast-track adoption of OOXML, pushed by a software vendor found guilty by the US and the EU of anti-competitive behavior, poses a threat to our lives as a truly creative society. We ask the national members of ISO to vote "NO" in the Ballot Resolution Meeting of ISO DIS 29500 (Office OpenXML or OOXML format) in February 2008.

We also propose that the BPS JTC1 Members, by approving in due time the ODF as a national standard, pro-actively nurture an environment where open and creative freedom of artists be upheld and protected from the closed, vested private interest of a (foreign) monopoly.

Korakora.org /
Fatima Lasay / www.korakora.org
Trevor Batten / www.tebatt.net
Artists' Statement re: ISO and Microsoft OOXML
11:55 PM 11/13/2007
Updated 02/10/2008

Sign the Petition http://www.noooxml.org/petition

Update: Some thoughts on the recently approved MSOOXML standard
posted by Fatima Lasay, April 23, 2008