Good discussion of the politics and in-fighting that goes on behind the scenes in the adoption of a metadata standard, in this case, XBRL, a business reporting standard. What bothers me is that the author presents this as a good way to do it: "those who would promote a new metadata standard might certainly learn a strategy or two from these skillful operatives. Attention to tactical alliances, courtship of powerful players, and even the invitation to software vendor participation, are ideas worth consideration. The XBRL International Web site is a veritable roadmap for the advancement of a complex proposal." What he doesn't say explicitly is that these tactics come with a price, whether it be to favour a certain company's products or even to implicitly require proprietary technology. Should standards development always involve capitulation? I hope not.
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