Kokkuvõte kohtuotsusest:

Today’s permanent injunction prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML.

Microsofti poolt ebaseaduslikult kasutatud patendi omanikuks ja hagejaks kohtus oli Kanada firma i4i Inc. , kelle kasuks kohus mõistis Microsoftilt välja ka üle $290 miljoni USD kahjuraha.

Väljavõte i4i Inc. kohtus esindanud advokaadibüroo pressiteatest:

The national law firm of McKool Smith is announcing a permanent injunction and total damages and interest of more than $290 million against software giant Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) in a Texas patent infringement lawsuit won by Toronto-based technology provider i4i Inc.

The Order and Permanent Injunction were signed today by Judge Leonard Davis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division. Today’s ruling follows a May 20, 2009, verdict of $200 million after jurors found that Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft willfully infringed an i4i patent covering a document system that relies on the XML custom formatting function.

During the trial, attorneys from McKool Smith and Tyler, Texas-based Parker, Bunt & Ainsworth successfully argued that Microsoft infringed the i4i patent issued in 1998, U.S. Patent No. 5,787,449, which covers software designed to manipulate “document architecture and content.” The software covered by the patent removed the need for individual, manually embedded command codes to control text formatting in electronic documents.

In today’s order, Judge Davis ruled that Microsoft should pay i4i an additional $40 million for its willful infringement of the i4i patent. Microsoft also was ordered to pay slightly more than $37 million in prejudgment interest, including an additional $21,102 per day until a final judgment is reached in the case. The court also ordered Microsoft to pay $144,060 per day until the date of final judgment for post-verdict damages. Today’s permanent injunction prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML. The court is requiring Microsoft to comply with the injunction within 60 days.

Microsoft ilmselt kaebab otsuse edasi, kuid hetkeseis on siis ikkagi selline, et Wordi müük USA-s tuleb peatada. Mida see USA kohtuotsus võiks tähendada Wordi müügile EU maades, ei oska hetkel veel öelda.

Märkuseks veel niipalju, et  i4i Inc. esindaja on öelnud, et ISO/IEC 26300  ODF (OpenDocument) failivorming, mis teadupärast põhineb samuti XML-l ja võistleb OOXML failivorminguga,  EI riku ühtegi nende patenti.

Viiteid sellel teemal:

• BBC News: Judge bans Microsoft Word sales
• Cnet News: Judge orders Microsoft to stop selling Word
• Groklaw:  The i4i v. Microsoft Orders and Permanent Injunction
• Groklaw:  Why didn’t Microsoft tell us about i4i’s patent litigation during the OOXML standards push?
• PCWorld: Microsoft Word Patent Ruling: So Who Is i4i?
• Koopia i4i Inc. kaebusest USA kohtule (PDF)
• Koopia kohtukeelust (PDF)
• Koopia kohtuotsusest (PDF)

Väga ebameeldiv, et Microsoft ei käitu vastavalt oma soliidsele turupositsioonile,  jätkuvalt ei austa vaba turukonkurentsi norme, ei soovi teha  koostööd standardiorganisatsioonidega  ja käitub sisuliselt poolkuritegeliku ühendusena, kelle palgalised esindajad tegelevad valetamise, standardite saboteerimise ning  standardikomiteede liikmete otsese isikliku laimamisega.

Pikemalt teema kohta:

Microsoft now attempts to sabotage ODF
Should we waterboard Rob Weir? And other crucial questions…
On the Microsoft Office ODF support fiasco
A Few Facts As Antidote Against Microsoft’s anti-ODF FUD Campaign
A follow-up on Excel 2007 SP2′s ODF support
ODF Alliance: Microsoft’s ODF Support Falls Short (PDF)

Four national standards bodies appeal against approval of ISO/IEC DIS 29500
2008-06-06
Four national standards body members of ISO and IEC – Brazil, India, South Africa and Venezuela – have submitted appeals against the recent approval of ISO/IEC DIS 29500, Information technology – Office Open XML formats, as an ISO/IEC International Standard.

In accordance with the ISO/IEC rules governing the work of their joint technical committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information technology, the appeals are currently being considered by the ISO Secretary-General and the IEC General Secretary who, within a period of 30 days (to the end of June), and following whatever consultations they judge appropriate, are required to submit the appeals, with their comments, to the ISO Technical Management Board and the IEC Standardization Management Board.

The two management boards will then decide whether the appeals should be further processed or not. If they decide in favour of proceeding, the chairmen of the two boards are required to establish a conciliation panel which will attempt to resolve the appeals. The process could take several months.

According to the ISO/IEC rules, a document which is the subject of an appeal cannot be published as an ISO/IEC International Standard while the appeal is going on. Therefore, the decision to publish or not ISO/IEC DIS 29500 as an ISO/IEC International Standard cannot be taken until the outcome of the appeals is known.

The new issues fall under the second major objection, which the letter summarizes by stating that the results of the BRM wre “inconclusive.” It supports that contention with a variety of examples, including:

1. The fact that the Brazilian delegation was not permitted to present a proposal regarding legacy binary mapping
2. Repeated refusals to address requests and issues due to lack of time
3. Decisions were mandated by lack of time, lead, leading to decisions Brazil deems “to completely incompatible with the kind of decisions that should have be taken.”
4. Decisions taken based upon an asserted “need to give answers to journalists”
5. Misuse of limited time for irrelevant purposes
6. Misapplication of the rules relating to who was entitled to vote in the BRM (a point also raised in the South African appeal)
7. Votes taken without prior discussion
8. Recourse to block voting not because it was an adequate approach, but only because it was “less bad”
9. An error relating to an objection in the official notes of the meeting

Each of these assertions is explained in detail, giving specific instances of conduct taken (and not taken) at the BRM. The ABNT appeal concludes its first argument by highlighting the fact that only 189 out of 1027 responses were actually discussed at the BRM, and stating “For the above-mentioned reasons, Brazil considers that the ISO/IEC DIS 29500 BRM was inconclusive.”

Kaebuse ingliskeelne täistekst ja kommentaarid: Now There are Two: Brazil Appeals OOXML Adoption

SABS tunneb ka muret jätkuva trendi üle, kus rahvusvahelised suurkorporatsioonid üritavad ISO tehnilisi komiteesid oma ärihuvide nimel ära kasutada, eirates ISO standardimisprotsesside häid tavasid ja mõjutades hääletustulemusi endaga seotud inimeste paigutamisega komiteedesse.

Kaebuse täisteksti ja kommentaare võib lugeda Standards Blog: South Africa Appeals OOXML Adoption ja <NO>OOXML: South Africa appeals against OOXML.

Üks kaebusest tulenevaid tagajärgi on, et seni, kuni ISO/IEC pole kaebuse suhtes otsust vastu võtnud, ei ole võimalik DIS 29500 standardit ka kinnitada.

Muuseas, MS OOXML-i ei saaks ka ilma selle LAV-i kaebuseta kinnitada, sest tehnilist dokumentatsiooni ametlikult ei eksisteeri. ISO reeglite kohaselt oleks ECMA/Microsoft pidanud selle esitama kuu aja jooksul peale hääletuskoosolekut. Praegu on möödas juba kaks kuud….

SABS kaebus ISO-le (PDF)

SABS kaebus IEC-le (PDF)

Louis Suarez-Potts: OOXML Has Zero Effect On ODF

ODF as a default format was first adopted by OpenOffice.org (OOo). Naturally, when OOXML’s approval cast a doubt on ODF, we sought reactions of the OOo team, on how they viewed the future of OOo, ODF and OOXML. Thus, this interview, which was conducted over a series of e-mails, with Louis Suarez-Potts, community manager, OpenOffice.org.

“Veebruar 29. pole õige kuupäev, arvab Microsoft:  Microsoft officially 425 years behind the times. Mitte ainult Excel ja Exchange ei ignoreeri Gregooriuse kalendrit. Sama lugu on ka tuttuue andmebaasiserveriga SQL Server 2008 ning ka Windows Small Business Server ja Windows Mobile ei pea seda kuupäeva miskikski. Windows Mobile 2003 olla vahetanud oma kuupäeva 1. märtsiks 2035, SQL server keeldus käivitumast, jne”

Märkuseks siinkohal, et ka Microsofti pakutud uus kontoritarkvara failivorming OOXML sisaldab eelpoolmainitud viga liigaasta käsitlemisel.

Teema kohta põhalikumat informatsiooni saab järgmistest allikatest:

• BRM in Geneva is over: big failure for OOXML

• Showdown in Geneva: OOXML Fails to Achieve Majority Approval at BRM

• The BRM in Geneva is over and, predictably, it failed to reach any consensus on support for OOXML

Seega ainsaks ISO standardiseeritud dokumendivorminguks jääb esialgu ISO/IEC 26300 ehk OpenDocument (ODF).

InformationWeek vahendab artiklis “Microsoft’s ‘Openness’ Pledge A Potential Patent Trap, Gartner Warns“:

IT research firm Gartner is warning open source software makers that Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s pledge to open up its documentation library to third parties carries legal risks for developers who aren’t careful about how they access the technical trove.
“Do not use Microsoft’s documentation unless you have rigorous processes to keep track of applicable patents,” said Gartner, in a new research report.

Microsoft last week announced significant changes to the way it will manufacture and license software — partly in an effort to appease the EC and other antitrust regulators. Among other things, Microsoft promised to publish more than 30,000 pages of documentation for Windows and client server protocols previously available only through a trade secrets license.

The company also pledged not to sue open source developers that use Microsoft technologies in non-commercial applications.

Gartner said open source developers shouldn’t interpret the latter as carte blanche to add Microsoft technologies to their product mix. While Microsoft will now openly publishing interoperability documentation, open source developers who want to use the information still require a patent license from Redmond if the work is for commercial distribution.

Even non-commercial work poses a risk because there’s a chance it might eventually turn up in a commercial environment. “Keep all work that depends on these patents separate from other [open source software] work, to avoid exposing downstream developers and users to litigation risk,” Gartner said.

The researchers said Microsoft needs to provide more details about how its new, self-proclaimed commitment to openness will affect its patent licensing program. “Microsoft’s new interoperability principles go much further than before, but questions remain about Microsoft’s royalty terms and conditions,” wrote Gartner analysts George Weiss, Matthew Cain, and Nikos Drakos, in the report.

The analysts noted that Microsoft’s openness pledge “is not wholly altruistic” as the company is hoping that easier access to its technical documentation will cause some open source developers to jump to the Windows camp. “This will help Microsoft expand the Windows platform as an organic ecosystem,” they said.

As part of its announcement last week, Microsoft said it would launch the Open Source Interoperability Initiative — a forum that will include labs, plug fests, technical content, and “opportunities for ongoing cooperative development” with open source developers.

Microsoft also said it would more fully embrace industry standards in “high volume” products such as the Windows operating system to enhance interoperability with third-party software.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a statement called the policy revisions “an important step and significant change in how we share information about our products and technologies.

Põhjusteks on, et Microsofti formaat on liialt komplitseeritud ja täis tehnilisi vigu. Google toetab OpenDocument (ODF) vormingut, mis on juba kinnitatud rahvusvaheliseks standardiks ISO/IEC 26300.

Analüüsides põhjalikult saadaolevaid andmeid OOXML kohta, kinnitab Google, et nimetatud formaat on ebapiisav, ei ole koostalitlusvõimeline ja standardina mõttetu ning on ehitatud ainult Microsoft Office vajaduste rahuldamiseks.

Trahv määrati selle eest, et Microsoft ei ole järginud Euroopa Liidu 2004. aasta korraldust, mille kohaselt oleks ettevõte pidanud jagama teavet, mis võimaldanuks konkurentide lahenduste koostoimimist Microsofti rühmatööprogrammiga.

Kokku on Euroopa Liit trahvinud Microsofti selle eest 1,68 miljardi euroga (enam kui 26 miljardi Eesti krooniga).

Siiani ei ole ükski ettevõte jätnud täitmata Euroopa Liidu komisjoni kartelliotsuseid. Microsoft lubab programmide koostoimimist, kuid ainult suurte tasude vastu. EL-i arvates ei saa aga sellist asja sallida.

BRUSSELS — European regulators are examining whether Microsoft Corp. violated antitrust laws during a struggle last year to ratify its Office software file format as an international standard.

European Union antitrust officials have asked Microsoft for information about its activities in the standards-setting process — an early step in an investigation — and are stepping up scrutiny of the issue, according to people familiar with the matter. The file format in question is computer code that describes how a document such as a letter or spreadsheet is digitally stored.

Samal teemal kirjutab pikemalt ka Andy Updegrove Standards Blog artiklites “EU Opens Two New Investigations Against Microsoft – One Involving OOXML” ja “EU Initiates Investigation Against Microsoft OOXML Push“.

Juurdlus puudutab ilmselt ka 2007 aasta altkäemaksuafääri Rootsis, kus Microsofti töötajad ostsid ära Rootsi standardikomitee liikmeid, et need hääletaksid OOXML standardiks kuulutamise poolt.

US20060271574A1 Exposing embedded data in a computer-generated document
US20060259854A1 Structuring an electronic document for efficient identification and use of document parts
US20060206794A1 Method and apparatus for maintaining relationships between parts in a package
US20060190815A1 Structuring data for word processing documents
US20060149785A1 Method and Apparatus for Maintaining Relationships Between Parts in a Package
US20060149758A1 Method and Apparatus for Maintaining Relationships Between Parts in a Package
US20060143459A1 Method and system for managing personally identifiable information and sensitive information in an application-independent manner
US20060143195A1 Method and Apparatus for Maintaining Relationships Between Parts in a Package
US20060136816A1 File formats, methods, and computer program products for representing documents
US20060136812A1 Method and system for linking data ranges of a computer-generated document with associated extensible markup language elements
US20060136553A1 Method and system for exposing nested data in a computer-generated document in a transparent manner
US20060136477A1 Management and use of data in a computer-generated document
US20060136432A1 Method and system for controlling software to facilitate cross-version collaboration of files
US20060107225A1 Method and computer-readable medium for interacting with a portion of an electronic document
US20050278272A1 Method and apparatus for maintaining relationships between parts in a package
US20050268221A1 Modular document format
US20050149861A1 Context-free document portions with alternate formats
US20050125720A1 Programmable object model for namespace or schema library support in a software application

Lisaks tekib küsimus, et kas sarnaseid tarkvarapatente on Microsoft registreerinud ka EU patendibüroodes…

1. On juba olemas ISO/IEC 26300 standard nimega OpenDocument Format (ODF): topelt-standard lisab kulusid, ebakindlust ja segadust tööstusele, valitsustele ja kodanikele;
2. Pole ühtegi reaalselt OOXML spetsifikatsioonil töötavat rakendust: Microsoft Office 2007 salvestab oma versiooni OOXML-ist, mitte aga faili, mis vastaks OOXML spetsifikatsioonile;
3. Spetsifikatsiooni dokumentatsioonist on puudu olulist infot, näiteks kuidas kasutada autoSpaceLikeWord95 või useWord97LineBreakRules;
4. Rohkem kui 10% standardis mainitud näidetest ei ole korrektne XML;
5. Pole garantiid, et keegi saab kirjutada tarkvara, mis täielikult või osaliselt rakendab OOXML spetsifikatsiooni, ilma, et autor oleks vastutav patentide kahjustamise eest või ei peaks maksma patenditasusid Microsoftile;
6. Pakutud standard läheb vastuollu teiste ISO standarditega nagu ISO 8601 (kuupäevade ja kellaaegade esitus), ISO 639 (nimede ja keelte esitamise koodid) või ISO/IEC 10118-3 (krüptograafiline hash);
7. Tabelarvutuse failiformaadis on probleem, mis ei lase sisestada kuupäeva enne 1900. aastat: selline viga esineb juba OOXML spetsifikatsioonis;
8. Pakutud standard ei ole loodud kõigi huvitatud poolte (nagu tootjad, müüjad, ostjad, kasutajad ja reguleerijad) kogemuse ja asjatundlikkuse kaasamisega, vaid ainult Microsofti poolt.

Meenutame, et ühe korra on ISO juba Microsoft OOXML standardiettepaneku tagasi lükanud.

Microsoft Office OpenXML ehk OOXML on Microsofti poolt väljatöötatud dokumendiformaat, mis konkureerib avatud standardiga OpenDocument (ODF – ISO/IEC 26300:2006). Vaatamata oma nimes sõna “open” sisaldumisele on OOXML siiski piiratud Microsofti litsentsidega ja sisaldab hulgaliselt viiteid Microsofti omanduses olevale koodile ja suletud MS Office failiformaatidele.

Hääletusel osalesid vastavad JTC 1 komitee rahvuslikud standardioragnisatsioonid 104 riigist. ISO standardiks kinnitamiseks oleks vaja olnud vähemalt 2/3 (ehk 66.66 %) poolthäält ja mitte rohkem kui 1/4 (25 %) vastuhäält. Hääletust varjutasid mitmed skandaalid, nagu Microsofti katse ära osta Rootsi standardorganisatsiooni liikmeid ja tugev lobby teistes maades. Hääletuse tulemused on suureks tagasilöögiks Microsofti katsetele tõrjuda kõrvale ISO standardi staatuses olevat OpenDocument (ODF) formaati. Dokumendistandardite sõda jätkub veebruaris, kui Microsoft läheb uuele katsele.

Teema kohta põhjalikke ülevaateid leiab siit: NOOOXML, OOXML, the past. ODF, the future, Washington Post: ISO votes to reject Microsoft’s OOXML as standard, OpenDocument Fellowship, The results of the ISO voting: Office Open XML is Disapproved – It’s Official