[WSIS CS-Plenary] Microsoft Quits a U.N. Standards Group

[Dr. Francis MUGUET]

English/Français ( Article in English only )

Hello,

The activity of the U.N./Cefact falls
clearly within the scope of the WSIS
( Open Standards, Proprietary/Free Software, e-commerce )
and as part of the UN, the work of this
group is bound to respect the WSIS recommendations.
  ( nonbinding for the states, but compulsory for
all the UN system )
Furthermore, the attendants of WSIS
have every right to examin and
be informed of the activity of this group in
order to assess the implemention of the
WSIS recommendations as part of WSIS
phase II.

This must be asked, not from the governements,
but from the organizers themselves : the UN.

Best regards

Francis

-----------------

Bonjour

Les activités du groupe U.N/Cefact tombent
clairement dans le domaine de compétence du SMSI
( Standards ouverts, logiciels libres, cybercommerce ),
et faisant partie de l'ONU, les travaux de ce groupe
doivent respecter les recommandations du SMSI.
( facultative pour les Etats; obligatoires pour l'ONU
  elle-même et son système )
De plus, les participants du SMSI ont le droit d'examiner
et d'être informer des activités de ce groupe aux fins
de mesurer la mise en oeuvre des recommandations du
SMSI, dans le cadre de la phase II du SMSI.

Cette question doit être posée, non aux gouvernements,
mais aux organisateurs eux-mêmes cad : l'ONU

Cordialement

Francis


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Source :
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/24/technology/24soft.html

August 24, 2004
Microsoft Quits a U.N. Standards Group
By JOHN MARKOFF

AN FRANCISCO, Aug. 23 - Microsoft on Monday withdrew from a United
Nations software standards group for commerce, citing "business reasons."

Earlier this year, Microsoft's participation had created controversy
within the group, which is attempting to define standards for creating a
new generation of Internet services to automate buying and selling
through networks of computers.

Advocates of proprietary and open approaches to software technology
standards had clashed within the organization, which is known as the
United Nations Center for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business, or
U.N./Cefact. Microsoft, a maker of proprietary software, opposes the use
of open-source software, which is freely shared.

But Microsoft's withdrawal on Monday was apparently not directly related
to the earlier controversy, according to several industry
representatives. Rather, they said, it stemmed from a set of thorny
issues over control of intellectual property that is being contributed
to the standards-setting effort.

In an e-mail message sent Monday to two officials of the U.N. standards
group, Dave Welsh, a Microsoft program manager, wrote: "Microsoft
regularly evaluates its standards participation and its available
resources for effective participation. Unfortunately, for now, we have
made the decision to stop participating in U.N./Cefact for business
reasons and this serves as notification of our immediate withdrawal from
all U.N./Cefact activities."

The e-mail message also noted that previous Microsoft contributions to
the group were not bound by the negotiations taking place over the
control of intellectual property.

Microsoft executives declined to comment on the message, but a company
spokesman said that the decision to withdraw "was a question of
priorities" and that the focus of the standards body was moving away
from Microsoft's expertise.

Various U.N./Cefact officials also refused comment or did not return
phone calls.

Two people who participate in the standards group said that several
United States and European companies were concerned about intellectual
property rights guidelines in effect within the group. The guidelines
would force corporations who contribute technology to indemnify the
United Nations against potential challenges involving intellectual
property claims.

In May, at a meeting of the United Nations group, the general counsel
for SAP, the German business software firm, announced that his company
would suspend all participation in the organization until the
intellectual property issues had been settled.

The dispute parallels issues raised in a lawsuit brought in the United
States by the SCO Group, a software company, against I.B.M. SCO has
accused I.B.M. of illegally placing software owned by SCO into the Linux
open-source operating system.

Earlier this year, the United Nations group became embroiled in an
industry squabble over an open standard for commerce known as ebXML. The
United Nations standard, which was backed by some American companies and
which has been widely adopted in Asia and Europe and by the Pentagon,
competes in some ways with a joint Microsoft-I.B.M. effort to establish
a competing set of standards.

The dispute became public in February, when some members of the United
Nations organization complained that Microsoft was financing the group's
activities in an effort to persuade the organization to adopt its software.

At the time, Microsoft disputed the charges and said that it had made
only "modest" contributions to the organization.