They are My Data

We need a data encoding law. Here is my proposal:

Any computer application that lets the user create data must have at least one file-save option that produces XML format.

The XML format shall use tags that correspond to the semantics of the data, as presented by the application to the user, including all detail that the user can manipulate in the application.

This law would guarantee that I could export, say, my agenda data to a text file, and that with luck it might look something like this:

<APPOINTMENT DAY="2001-09-24" TIME="14:00" ALARM="YES">WPE meeting in room 53, discuss MoU</APPOINTMENT>

<APPOINTMENT DAY="2001-09-24" TIME="18:00" ALARM="NO">Pick up Sté at airport</APPOINTMENT>

<TODO LIST="Next in USA" PRIORITY="3">buy new countoured USB keyboard</TODO>

I can then use this in whichever way I like, writing my own application if necessary.

I'm not proposing that the proprietary formats should disappear, they would probably be good for efficiency. But at least with the legally enforced XML markup I could get at the data.

Those data after all are my data.

There is hope: even Microsoft's Office suite now uses XML as the underlying format, and so does Apple's iWork.