.doc and why it should go

Friday, 23 September 2005

Here is a beautiful example of why .doc should go the way other file formats have gone before it. It’s proprietary.

During the Open Format Meeting that was held in Massachusetts by the Mass Technology Leadership Council in regards to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts adopting the .odf document format for official state business

Microsoft National Technology Officer Stuart lectured Secretary Kriss on how Microsoft’s intellectual property is key to the company’s revenue generation and tax payments and then asked Kriss “Are you talking about extinguishing IP rights?” Responded Kriss: “Of course not. IP is extremely important, but when it comes to this specific issue and the definition of a file format, you can always make the claim of IP to the definition of a file format and that is any corporations or any individual rights to do so.. Its just that doesn’t serve the needs of a sovereign state. Here we have a true conflict between the notion of IP and the notion of sovereignty. I would say 100 percent of the time in a democracy sovereignty trumps intellectual property.”

Okay, but what about in a business or a school? I do not think we should always strive for the easiest solution in the short run, because in the long run it can come back to haunt us. Think forced upgrades, information loss due to outdated file formats, inability to control the information contained in the file format, etc, etc.

This weblog article has a good summary: Microsoft vs Mass.: What ever happened to ‘The customer is always right’?

For extended reading on the topic: Carr gives Microsoft a taste of its own OpenDoc medicine (and I pile on)