I was invited to speak today at the Parliamentary committee for internet accessibility which examines alternative browsers. The committee met in Jerusalem so I woke up this morning, 06:45, to head there knowing that i will not change the current state of mind.

When i came there i heard the first two speaker, enthused to show how important it is to open the Israeli Government’s websites to all platforms (currently the only support microsoft IE); I explained my thesis: Since I have to purchase proprietary software in order to do my job (for example, interact with the courts), my freedom of occupation and right to property are tempered. I cannot choose which platform to use and i cannot choose not to purchase Microsoft.

Also, by mandating us to one platform, we are encouraging the current monopoly to exist. It is like the Government’s TV Station would only work with SONY televisions.

After I said my words, i was attacked (partially) by Boaz Dolev, the persona in charge of Accessible Government said that prior to applying W3C standards, websites should be able to support Arabic and Russian, and be accessible to Impaired people. He also asked me why won’t i sue the courts to allow me accessibility. I hope he knows that he’s the only one standing before applying the standards.

My only hope was the Anti-Trust representatives, which said that they are checking the complaints and trying to enforce standards.

I headed back to Tel-Aviv, other things to do. AFAK, this web standards thing will just be put aside until the new government will be elected again.

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