TACD, a consultative forum to the U.S. Government and European Commission, is holding a Round Table discussion of consumer and user perspectives on the benefits and risks of ODF, as well as the issues concerning its implementation. The Open Document Format (ODF) is a relatively new standard for document and data formats that has been endorsed by a number of software companies and free software advocates. It could replace the proprietary standards for word processing, presentation graphics and spreadsheet documents that are now essentially controlled by Microsoft, a firm that has control over more than 90 percent of the global market for office productivity software. TACD seeks to better understand the opportunities and challenges of policies that would require or encourage the use of ODF as a standard document format. This public workshop will include members of various communities including consumer groups, vendors, disabled persons, government and academics representatives.



Discussing Open Document Formats. Meeting notes on the ODF Workshop (10/20/06). Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School.