To be fair, ODF started out as a documentation of the 'StarOffice XML' format.

True. And that is in fact a legitimate starting point for the process of developing a standard. Of course back when it was just the 'StarOffice XML' format, no-one insisted on pushing it down everyone's throat as an international standard. Rather, Sun got all interested parties together, and a real standard was developed by means of requesting and taking under consideration everyone's input on needed changes.

OOo will always follow the standard rather than define the standard. A standard isn't defined by one product, it is something that products follow.

Yes, exactly.

I don't understand why this is so hard for people to understand.

Effective propaganda: The "open" in OOXML's name together with the OOXML specification being called a "standard" by Ecma, etc. We all suffer from information overload and are not able to think though and reach the stage of true understanding regarding all issues. In the absence of any well-known credible and truly objective authorities on the issue, we should not be surprised by the effectiveness of Microsoft's propaganda.

The article by boing-boing is 100% inaccurate. Ok, make that 90%, there as been a revision of the copyright law in Switzerland. But beyond this basic fact, the situation is very different. The new copyright law is, compared to the US and the EU, very liberal. Not liberal enough for my taste, but way more so than others. For example, downloading files for personal use is explicitly allowed. It is explicitly allowed to break copy protection technology, as long as you use the file for legal purposes (private copy, education etc). Admitted, the law has its share of absurdities -- downloading is permitted, uploading is prohibited -- but still, it's so liberal, that the "International Intellectual Property Alliance" put Switzerland on its watchlist for it. Also, there has been real public debate about it, with resistance from political parties on the left, as well as free software groups, ngos, and even artists. The fact that the discussion did not take place in English but in German, French and Italian does not mean that it did not take place at all.