XML Aficionado: OOXML Resolutions to ISO Comments - a closed process to create an open standard?

An interesting observation from Altova CEO Alexander Falk

It appears that Microsoft has now provided 662 responses to the ISO comments on DIS29500 (Office Open XML) through Ecma, but those responses are presently only available to members of the ISO voting organizations through password-protected access. This move is already gathering much criticism from the ODF camp.

Guess what: those responses are neither provided in ODF format nor in OOXML. They are 662 individual PDF files. How ironic is that...?

My $.02: a 2008/02 ISO vote to standardize Open XML would help to make Open XML more acceptable to organizations that mandate global standards, but it's not a make-or-break scenario for Open XML. First, Open XML already is a standard -- an Ecma International standard (albeit a standards body that is not considered by some people to be international in scope). Second, Open XML is also already a de facto standard, with a large and growing ecosystem, due to its use as the default Office 2007 file format, and support from vendors such as Altova, Apple, NextPage, Novell, and many others.

XML Aficionado: OOXML Resolutions to ISO Comments - a closed process to create an open standard?