California May Require Open Docs Standard

An assemblyman from San Francisco is trying to make California's state government the latest to join in mandating the use of open document formats.

Assemblyman Mark Leno introduced Bill AB1668 this week; it would require the state to use documents that support an open and XML-based file format.

The bill does not specifically mention the OpenDocument Format (ODF), but that format has been the catalyst for Massachusetts, Minnesota and Texas to introduce legislation that would push the adoption of open and extensible file formats.

Massachusetts has adopted an open document policy, but is using plug-in technology to support ODF while it considers a way to serve people with disabilities who need magnifiers not supported by open office applications that use ODF. Bills in Minnesota and Texas are working through the legislative process.

"We anticipated other states would introduce legislation, and we are confident others will follow on the heels of Minnesota, Texas and California," says Marino Marcich, executive director of the ODF Alliance . The alliance began working with officials in Minnesota after the state's bill was introduced more than a year ago, and has been helping others with the language in their legislation.

Marcich says it's all adding up to significant momentum for open document formats: "What started in Massachusetts has taken off in Europe, has taken root in Asia and now we have other states in the U.S. joining."

The wording of Leno's bill, which is waiting to be assigned to a committee for review, is similar to the wording of the other states' bills. It would require all state agencies to "create, exchange, and preserve all documents, as specified, in an open, extensible-markup-language-based, XML-based file format, and to start to become equipped to receive any document in an open, XML-based, file format, as specified." The legislation specifically bars the use of proprietary file formats, although it does not mention the most well-known of those: Microsoft Office.

Office 2007, however, has a new default file format called OpenXML that was approved in December as a standard by Ecma International , a membership-based standards organization for information and communications systems. Microsoft now is seeking further standardization of OpenXML through the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), an effort that is being met with resistance from IBM and others.

Leno's bill, however, includes language that appears pointed at Microsoft. It mandates that open formats be "under the control of an open industry organization with a "well-defined, inclusive process for evolution of the standard."

Other stipulations require the format to be interoperable among diverse internal and external platforms and applications, fully published, and available royalty-free.

A spokesman for Leno said the assemblyman hoped the bill would be heard in late March. If passed, AB1668 calls for state agencies to comply on or before Jan. 1, 2008.

As part of the bill, state agencies would have to evaluate whether they can convert existing documents to open document formats by considering cost, the need for public access and the documents' storage life.

Leno is no stranger to controversy. In 2005 he authored the first marriage-equality bill in U.S. history to be approved by both houses of a state legislature.