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I was interested in this article in the New Scientist [1] on how tobacco companies appear to have rigged the ISO so that they could change the way the nicotine content of their cigarettes was measured in order to comply withy health legislation without changing the product itself. "Rather than alter cigarettes to meet 1990 European Union limits on tar and nicotine, makers changed how they measure these substances, say Stella Bialous and Derek Yach of the World Health Organization. They say the companies were able to do this because they effectively control the tobacco committee of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which sets such tests." Is this relevant to the software industry? Not obviously, I admit. But it seems at least theoretically possible to imagine cases where having a standard organisation that favoured the interest of suppliers rather than consumers might cause problems, for instance requiring the licencing of IP or churning to force frequent upgrades. Thoughts? Francis. [1] http://www.newscientist.com/dailynews/news.jsp?id=ns9999846
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