Re: Thoughts on rechartering and the future of publications on the web

On 11/19/2018 5:25 AM, AUDRAIN LUC wrote:
>
> In this global view, you will not be surprised that I believe making 
> EPUB3.2 a REC is not a good idea. It will not only take energy and 
> time from the WG, it will also put EPUB3 out of reach of the pub industry!
>
> We all know that W3C full members fees are unaffordable for almost all 
> publishing houses around the world, and not only the fees, but also 
> the time consuming, expertise, and travel expenses.
>
There are many Pro's and Con's about putting EPUB 3.2 on the REC track, 
and I don't want to take a position on this general issue.

But I want to push back on the notion that we don't have a critical mass 
of publishers who are members of W3C.  Quite the contrary, in a very 
short amount of time, I believe we have built a strong foundation.  This 
includes:

  * Classical organizations in the IDPF ecosystem who joined W3C -
    either before the merger or after.  Some of the larger ones include:
    Hachette, Pearson, Wiley, VitalSource, Kodansha, Shueisha, and
    MacMillan.  I expect that a few more might join as we get to the TPI
    expiration date. And we have some smaller members as well.
  * Classical W3C companies who participate (or should participate) in
    EPUB: Adobe, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Rakuten (including Kobo and
    Overdrive)
  * New W3C members who we want to get involved in EPUB: Amazon
  * We still have over two months remaining to get more TPIs to sign up
    to regular membership.  Thanks to various folks in the BG who have
    been helping Karen and Alan with making contacts.

To be sure, we are not where we need to be, and we have a lot of work in 
front of ourselves to further strengthen this community. But we have a 
very strong nucleus.

> Then as a REC, EPUB will not be maintained any more by publishers !
>