Open Document Format (ODF), What's in it for Consumers?
On my first day at CPtech, I attended the "Public Brown Bag Lunch" meeting, entitled: "Open Document Format (ODF) - What's in it for Consumers?"
Lots of acronymns and (sometimes) rather technological details made it difficult to gain a fully complete picture of what the different positions were all about.
Yet it was evident that software industry representatives were desperately interested in reaching consensus with consumer interest groups.
Find beneath my report on the meeting.
Public Brown Bag Lunch: "Open Document Format (ODF), What's in it for Consumers?"
February 16, 2006
13 representatives from consumer and public interest groups, industry associations as well as public institutions (libraries and university) gathered at CPtech's Washington office for a two-hour lunchtime meeting. On the agenda was a discussion about implications of the so-called “Open Document Format” in view of consumer interests.
ODF (short for “OASIS Open Document Format for Office Applications”) is a file format for electronic office documents, including text documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. It offers a free and transparent alternative to established, proprietary file formats such as .doc, .ppt, or .xls.
Since open standards like ODF are not controlled by any company, they can be enhanced and worked upon without obligation to pay royalties. To open and edit ODF-files, users can use software tools provided by different vendors, which guarantees that they cannot be hit by a vendor lock-in. Thus if ODF standards became more widespread, consumers would be able to choose from an array of competing office tools without having to fear that files cannot be opened due to compatibility problems.
A good example for a successful non-proprietary code is omnipresent HTML-encoding and its beneficial impacts on a flourishing WWW.
But ODF is not only about creating more competition and interoperability among software vendors. Open standard file formats make it possible to store vital documents in a way that ensures long-term unlimited access to public records and free interaction with government authorities. Public records should not be archived in proprietary standards, ODF-supporters emphasize. In the case of proprietary standard files, citizens are forced to buy certain software in order to access them – making freedom of information a matter of owning the right computer software, newly updated version.
At the CPtech-hosted meeting, risks and potentials of ODF were discussed and possible future cooperation was deliberated upon.
Consumer group representatives expressed concerns about ODF-editing tools' compliance with disabled users' needs. Software industry representatives pointed out that rapid software improvements to address accessibility problems are under way, making ODF-processing software a viable alternative for persons with disabilities.
While government authorities such as the Massachusetts Department of Administration and Finance have decided to provide public records in an open standard, consumers were said to be the “missing voice in the game” so far. It was thus recorded that there would have to be better communication of the immediate dangers that result from the use of proprietary standard documents by public authorities.
Attendants included:
Patrice McDermott of the American Library Association (ALA), www.ala.org
Bob Oakley of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), www.aallnet.org
Doug Newcomb of the Special Library Association (SLA), www.sla.org
Jeff Kaplan of the Open ePolicy Group at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/policy, http://jakaplan.blogspot.com/
Jeannine Kenney of Consumers Union, www.consumersunion.org
Ed Mierzwinski of the US Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG), www.uspirg.org
Paul Hyland of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), www.cpsr.org
James Love and Manon Ress of CPTech,
Matt Schrueb and Will Rodger of the Computer and Communication Industry Association (CCIA), www.ccianet.org
David LeDuc of the Software Information Industry Association (SIIA), www.siia.net
Sam Hiser of Hiser & Adelstein via telephone conference http://hiser-adelstein.com/
Lots of acronymns and (sometimes) rather technological details made it difficult to gain a fully complete picture of what the different positions were all about.
Yet it was evident that software industry representatives were desperately interested in reaching consensus with consumer interest groups.
Find beneath my report on the meeting.
Public Brown Bag Lunch: "Open Document Format (ODF), What's in it for Consumers?"
February 16, 2006
13 representatives from consumer and public interest groups, industry associations as well as public institutions (libraries and university) gathered at CPtech's Washington office for a two-hour lunchtime meeting. On the agenda was a discussion about implications of the so-called “Open Document Format” in view of consumer interests.
ODF (short for “OASIS Open Document Format for Office Applications”) is a file format for electronic office documents, including text documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. It offers a free and transparent alternative to established, proprietary file formats such as .doc, .ppt, or .xls.
Since open standards like ODF are not controlled by any company, they can be enhanced and worked upon without obligation to pay royalties. To open and edit ODF-files, users can use software tools provided by different vendors, which guarantees that they cannot be hit by a vendor lock-in. Thus if ODF standards became more widespread, consumers would be able to choose from an array of competing office tools without having to fear that files cannot be opened due to compatibility problems.
A good example for a successful non-proprietary code is omnipresent HTML-encoding and its beneficial impacts on a flourishing WWW.
But ODF is not only about creating more competition and interoperability among software vendors. Open standard file formats make it possible to store vital documents in a way that ensures long-term unlimited access to public records and free interaction with government authorities. Public records should not be archived in proprietary standards, ODF-supporters emphasize. In the case of proprietary standard files, citizens are forced to buy certain software in order to access them – making freedom of information a matter of owning the right computer software, newly updated version.
At the CPtech-hosted meeting, risks and potentials of ODF were discussed and possible future cooperation was deliberated upon.
Consumer group representatives expressed concerns about ODF-editing tools' compliance with disabled users' needs. Software industry representatives pointed out that rapid software improvements to address accessibility problems are under way, making ODF-processing software a viable alternative for persons with disabilities.
While government authorities such as the Massachusetts Department of Administration and Finance have decided to provide public records in an open standard, consumers were said to be the “missing voice in the game” so far. It was thus recorded that there would have to be better communication of the immediate dangers that result from the use of proprietary standard documents by public authorities.
Attendants included:
Patrice McDermott of the American Library Association (ALA), www.ala.org
Bob Oakley of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), www.aallnet.org
Doug Newcomb of the Special Library Association (SLA), www.sla.org
Jeff Kaplan of the Open ePolicy Group at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/policy, http://jakaplan.blogspot.com/
Jeannine Kenney of Consumers Union, www.consumersunion.org
Ed Mierzwinski of the US Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG), www.uspirg.org
Paul Hyland of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), www.cpsr.org
James Love and Manon Ress of CPTech,
Matt Schrueb and Will Rodger of the Computer and Communication Industry Association (CCIA), www.ccianet.org
David LeDuc of the Software Information Industry Association (SIIA), www.siia.net
Sam Hiser of Hiser & Adelstein via telephone conference http://hiser-adelstein.com/
posted by Lukas F. at 6:50 PM
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