106 lines
5.6 KiB
HTML
106 lines
5.6 KiB
HTML
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<title>FSFE - Open Standards - Overview</title>
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<h1>Open Standards</h1>
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<p align="center">[ overview | <a href="def.html">definition</a> ]</p>
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<p class="background">
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Lock-in of data is one of the most common techniques to artificially
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raise the cost of migration to Free Software. Ensuring the best possible
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interoperability through Open Standards is essential in enabling users
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to escape vendor lock-in. FSFE's work on Open Standards has the goal of
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making sure that people do not have to lose all their data when
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migrating to Free Software.
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</p>
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<h2>Introduction</h2>
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<p>The relevance of Open Standards is closely linked to networking
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effects, and has consequently been rising dramatically. The reward
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for gaming the system for proprietary vendors is increasing, so is
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the cost for users of software.</p>
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<p>Governments, public interest NGOs, including groups that are
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concerned about freedom of competition or consumer rights are
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generally strong proponents of Open Standards. Typical critics are
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the proprietary software vendors and those that represent their
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interests. One of the items that critics seek to highlight is the
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inherent conflict between innovation and standardisation.</p>
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<p>Standardisation deliberately limits changes to a technological
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basis, including innovation. These limits are introduced in order
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to allow subsequent innovation by everyone that has access to the
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standard and not just the party that controls the technological
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basis. So standards limit the ability to innovate by a single
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party in order to allow innovation on the basis of that standard
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by multiple parties.</p>
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<p><a href="def">Open Standards</a> allow such innovation by all
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parties with no leverage for the initial developer of the platform
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to limit such innovation or the competition it represents.</p>
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<p>FSFE's goals include freedoms from lock-in, of innovation and
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competition for everyone. That is why FSFE is a strong supporter
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of <a href="def">Open Standards</a>.</p>
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<h2>Publications</h2>
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<dynamic-content />
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<ul>
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<li>"<a href="ps.html">Analysis on balance: Standardisation and Patents</a>"<br />by <a href="/about/greve/">Georg Greve</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h3>Publications at the IGF</h3>
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<ul>
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<li>"<a href="/projects/igf/sovsoft">Sovereign Software: Open Standards, Free Software, and the Internet</a>"<br />FSFE contribution to the first <a href="/projects/igf/igf">IGF</a>, by <a href="/about/greve/">Georg Greve</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h3>Publications on MS-OOXML</h3>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="/documents/msooxml-questions">Six questions to national standardisation bodies</a></li>
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<li>FSFE Context Briefing: "<a href="/documents/msooxml-interoperability">Interoperability woes with MS-OOXML</a>"</li>
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<li>FSFE Context Briefing: "<a href="/documents/msooxml-idiosyncrasies">DIS-29500: Deprecated before use?</a>"</li>
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<li>Article on BBC: "<a href="/documents/msooxml-questions-for-ms">Questions for Microsoft on open formats</a>"</li>
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<li>Article on Heise.de: "<a href="/documents/msooxml-converter-hoax">The converter hoax</a>"</li>
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</ul>
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<h2>Related News</h2>
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<ul>
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<li><b>2008-04-02</b>: <a href="http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2008q2/000206.html">FSFE concerned about quality of standardisation process</a></li>
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<li><b>2008-03-26</b>: <a href="http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2008q1/000205.html">26 March 2008: Today is Document Freedom Day</a></li>
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<li><b>2008-03-26</b>: <a href="http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release-de/2008q1/000124.html">German Federal Foreign Ministry honored for Open Standards work</a> (in German)</li>
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<li><b>2008-03-06</b>: <a href="http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2008q1/000203.html">Petition calls for Open Standards in the European Parliament</a></li>
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<li><b>2008-02-28</b>: <a href="/news/2008/news-20080228-01">FSFE calls on Microsoft to release interoperability information without restrictions</a></li>
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<li><b>2008-02-20</b>: <a href="/news/2008/news-20080220-01">Introducing Document Freedom Day - 26 March:
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A global day for document liberation</a></li>
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<li><b>2006-07-12</b>: <a href="http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2006q3/000147.html">Commission to Microsoft: Preventing interoperability has a price</a></li>
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<li><b>2006-04-27</b>: <a href="http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2006q2/000137.html">Samba and FSFE: "Microsoft - obstacle to innovation in the digital society!"</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h2>External links of interest</h2>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="http://documentfreedom.org">Document Freedom Day</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://www.odfalliance.org">ODF Alliance</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://isp.law.yale.edu/static/papers/Open_Documents_and_Democracy.pdf">"Open Documents and Democracy"</a> by Laura de Nardis and Eric Tam, Yale Information Society Project</li>
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<li><a href="http://www.intgovforum.org/Substantive_1st_IGF/openstandards-IGF.pdf">"An Economic Basis for Open Standards"</a> by Rishab A. Ghosh</li>
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<li><a href="http://www.fsfe.org/fellows/greve/freedom_bits/an_emerging_understanding_of_open_standards">"An emerging understanding of Open Standards"</a> by <a href="/about/greve/">Georg Greve</a></li>
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</ul>
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</body>
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