Groklaw is doing a series of posts on purported irregularities in the Open XML ISO approval process, with the insinuation that some of this may have resulted from the influence of Microsoft. Not a surprise. Groklaw has long used the approach of looking for tension in industry and policy settings, and attempting to trace connections back to Microsoft.

Whats amusing is that Groklaw was the source by which I uncovered the FOSS Movement's involvement in the 2007 EC case against Microsoft. Following the decision, while celebrating a victory for its FOSS friends and a loss for its enemies (Microsoft) through a series of blog posts, the Groklaw community showed itself steeply concerned with vested commercial interests (various FOSS entities and Microsoft competitors).

Its further amusing that Groklaw has done nothing to bring attention to the fact that IBM (a major opponent of Open XML receiving ISO approval) is historically a suave player in the standards process. Unfortunately for IBM, it may be better at the standards game than properly securing government contracts. Big Blue has recently been suspended from contracts with the US federal government as well as the state of Massachusetts.