There are lots of significant problems with allowing proprietary formats becoming standards - besides the competition thingy. One of these is the inevitable change and evolution of formats which may break backward compatibility, specificly .DOCument formats. Thus, old - but still important information - cannot be read using current applications. You are then left at the mercy of the company that made the format in the first place to provide you with the tools or specs for doing so, if they still exist.

Specification of standards should be - and is - available for anyone who needs them, and everyone should be - and is - able to use them in their own implementation. Standard formats specs should be reviewed by an independant organization to ensure implementation-independant comformity. Therefore MS document formats cannot be considered "standard".

It is in most peoples interest that the information they intend to make public is accessible to everyone in their target audience - regardless of the platform they choose.

This is increasingly important as the internet grows older and the wealth of information increases. There will be more documents and information in old formats laying around. It is in most peoples interests that old information which may still be of value and importance is accessible without having to pay someone for deciphering.

Just my 2 cents worth..