No, the IETF can't prevent Microsoft from doing anything they like. The
RFCs exist to promote interoperability, not to force proprietary software
companies into conformance. SOAP is written very loosely and effectively
does nothing of any interest, especially since the White paper lies
repeatedly about what it achieves compared with other RPC mechanisms.(*)
Don't believe the hype.
I agree that we should press on with our simple XML over HTTP solution
rather than wait for an IETF standard to do RPC over the Internet. The
existing solutions worked well enough, but had no buzzword compliance,
so we will see what another year brings us.
Nick.