Attachments in Proprietary Formats Considered Harmful
   Explains the risks of exchanging data in non-public format and suggests the main alternatives.
   http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~chak/email.html

Avoid E-Mail Attachments, Especially Microsoft Word
   Short document with instructions to MS-Word users on alternatives they can use for document exchange.
   http://bcn.boulder.co.us/~neal/attachments.html

Build Systems, Not Companies, on Open Standards
   Without standards, every job is a one-off, and vendor lock-in is assured after the first project. Open standards are the beating heart of e-Business, without which concepts like intranets and business-to-business commerce would not be practical on a mass
   http://intranetjournal.com/articles/200202/gb_02_20_02a.html

Burn All GIFs
   Campaign for replacing the (formerly) patent-encumbered GIF format by open standard graphics. Since the GIF formats has become patent-free, the site advocates against software patents.
   http://burnallgifs.org/archives/

Business Case for Open Standards
   Paper investigating economical issues related to the diffusion of public standards.
   http://www.openstandards.net/viewOSnet1C.jsp?showModuleName=businessCaseForOpenStandards

Content Management and Edit Data Exchange
   Article on formats interoperability in audio and video content.
   http://www.edlmax.com/ContentManagement.htm

Cover Pages: Patents and Open Standards
   Investigates the effects of patent proliferation and criticizes reasonable and non-discriminatory license terms (RAND) for patented technologies.
   http://xml.coverpages.org/patents.html

Death to Proprietary Word Formats
   Argues in favor of using HTML instead of proprietary word formats.
   http://homepages.borland.com/ccalvert/Opinion/WordFormats.html

Linux Standard Base
   The goal of the Linux Standard Base (LSB) is to develop and promote a set of standards that will increase compatibility among Linux distributions and enable software applications to run on any compliant Linux system.
   http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/LSB

LinuxLab - Open Standards
   Argues in favor of patent-free standards and suggests recommended formats for different kinds of content.
   http://linuxlab.dk/openstandards/

MS-Word Is Not a Document Exchange Format
   Explains the appropriate use of document formats and argues against the use of Word attachments.
   http://www.goldmark.org/netrants/no-word/attach.html

No Proprietary Binary Data Formats
   Why not use proprietary formats and what are the main open alternatives.
   http://www.podval.org/~sds/data.html

Open Data Format Initiative
   Initiative aiming to convince software companies to release data format documentation and to pass laws that governments can only store user data in open format. Presents its manifesto, forum, news, links to institutional resolutions.
   http://odfi.org/

Open Design Alliance
   An association of CAD customers and vendors committed to promoting open, industry-standard formats for the exchange of CAD data. Hisotry, members, FAQ, and published papers.
   http://www.opendesign.com/

Open Interoperative Document Initiative
   Supports efforts by governments at all levels to ensure public documents are open and interoperable and thus available without the need for proprietary software. Includes resources and details of how to get involved.
   http://www.oidi.org/

Open Source versus Open Standards
   Draws a distinction between open source advocacies and the promotion of public standards, warning against the confusion of these two initiatives.
   http://news.com.com/2010-1071-995823.html

Open Standards
   What is a standard, what is an open standard, and why use open standards on the Internet.
   http://www.wigglebits.com/standards.html

Open Standards - The Only Option
   Internet technologies and the economical challenge of open protocols.
   http://www.sdtimes.com/editorial/opinion-20010501-01.html

Open Standards Repository
   Archive of standards relevant to the Open Source community, including licenses, public standards, protocols, RFCs.
   http://openstandards.org/

Open Standards: Principles and Practice
   Illustrates the principles behind format standardization and the practice of promoting formats interoperability.
   http://perens.com/OpenStandards/Definition.html

OpenStandards.net
   A not-for-profit organization connecting people to open standards and the bodies that build and foster their growth.
   http://www.openstandards.net/

Openformats.org
   Collaborative documentation projects on why use public standards and open formats and why avoid proprietary formats in data exchange.
   http://www.openformats.org/

Please don't send me Microsoft Word documents
   A discussion of the problems of MSWord as a document exchange format and what alternatives are available. Suitable for a non-technical audience.
   http://www.nothingisreal.com/dfki/no-word

Sincere Choice
   Intercommunication and file formats should follow standards that are sincerely open for all to implement, without royalty fees or discrimination.
   http://sincerechoice.org/

Software Standards versus Protocol Standards
   How open standards may help mitigate or prevent "customer lock-in" strategies.
   http://www.clock.org/~fair/opinion/open-standards.html

Streaming media: A case for open standards
   Benefits of the development of open specifications for audio and video formats. By Rich Mavrogeanes.
   http://news.com.com/2010-1025_3-5099118.html

The Principles of Open Standards
   Ken Krechmer analyzes the distinct issues behind advocacy for non-proprietary formats.
   http://www.csrstds.com/openstds.html

W3C Patent Policy
   Governs the handling of patents in the process of producing Web standards. The goal of this policy is to assure that Recommendations produced under this policy can be implemented on a Royalty-Free (RF) basis.
   http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy

We Can Put an End to Word Attachments
   Richard Stallman's arguments against the use of proprietary formats in document exchange.
   http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html

Why Not Word!
   Why not using Word, Excel or any other proprietary format to communicate.
   http://www.rfc1149.net/documents/whynotword.html.en

Why There Are Not GIF Files on GNU Pages
   Advocates against the use of image formats that are protected by patents. Presents a brief history of the GIF format as well as its open alternatives.
   http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gif.html