Despite speculation to the contrary, Microsoft's closely watched bid to make its Open Office XML file format an international standard failed as 26% of countries voting rejected the software giant's proposal. The company also received just 53% of the votes from 37 countries representing the International Organization for Standardization and The International Electrotechnical Commission, short of the two-thirds requirement. Conditions also stipulated that the open document format not be opposed by more than 25% of all voting countries. At the heart of the issue are concerns about 
Microsoft's market domination, but there also are worries over who controls the digital codes used to store billions of documents. Open XML is used to exchange information between incompatible programs and systems without having to translate them first. Microsoft believes, however, that it will have the needed votes in the next stage of the process when the final vote is taken -- likely in March 2008. The British standards authority, which opposed the bid, said its review panel "identified a number of technical issues in the document which need to be addressed before the U.K. can approve" Open XML. This is just one of several challenges the company faces in Europe. A court will rule on September 17 on the company's appeal of a 2004 EU anti-trust order. Competitor IBM received ISO certification for its OpenDocument format last year. Sun and Google, which distribute and promote the free Open Office suite, may also benefit.
Sources: Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal
Commentary: Microsoft's Office Open XML Set to Become International Standard • Microsoft to Dispute FCC's Rejection of White Space Proposal -- Washington Post
Stocks/ETFs to watch: MSFT, SWH, PSJ. Competitors: IBM, ORCL
Earnings call transcript: Microsoft F4Q07 (Qtr End 6/30/07)
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