Microsoft Partially Opens Proprietary XML Format

eschasi writes "Groklaw has an article up reporting that Microsoft is going to open up their XML representation of the DOC format in response to Massachusetts' demand for open formats. According to Groklaw there are some interesting caveats involved in the move. From the license: 'We are acknowledging that end users who merely open and read government documents that are saved as Office XML files within software programs will not violate the license'. While opening up the format even partially is a good idea, it's still a far cry from folks being able to write programs that create DOC-compatible files."

Comments

Re:Interesting Quote

[danheskett]

my ability access to the information in that document should be guaranteed no matter what, licenses be damned.

Well, I could see that argument, except that, the primary purpose of an electronic document is to store something for printing.

You can represent a printed document in a completely closed format. But that format being closed does not inhibit you from reading, copying, modifying, etc the document as long the government will supply you with a printed copy.

I dont think you have any special right to an electronically modifiable copy of a given document.

Re:Interesting Quote

[Karma Farmer]

It seems that the ability for a citizen to read and access government documents should surpass all other interests, regardless of licensing issues.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 clearly disagrees with you:

Clause 8: To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

Copyright is so important to the United States that it's enshrined in the original Constitution. I'm loath to start messing with it.

And Congress, in their divine wisdom, has decided that closed document formats promote the progress of science and the useful arts...