Comment on IP and GGF OGSI ServiceData concepts

Recently there was a question addressed to the GGF OGSI working group folks 
regarding IP claims related to the OGSI ServiceData concepts.

By way of background, the GGF IP policies are essentially cloned from IETF 
policies, so if you understand IETF IP policies then you understand GGF IP 
policies and you can probably stop reading after the first paragraph below.

At the GGF website, and specifically:
	http://www.gridforum.org/L_WG/Policies.htm#IP
we list the policy and all IP claims provided to us.  As of today, GGF 
knows of no IP claims against ServiceData.

OGSI-WG participants acting in good faith, with respect to the GGF IP 
policies they agreed to, would have disclosed IP claims if they were aware 
of them.  That they did not find IP claims is a valuable piece of 
information.  So the statement is quite valuable and probably as strong a 
statement as can be made.

The following is a reasonable analogy.

W3C and GGF have teams that are on similar journeys.  W3C sees that the GGF 
OGSI-WG team has reached a  waypoint, called ServiceData, that would 
accelerate their journey.

W3C asks - "Did you find any land mines along the path?"
GGF says "The OGSI-WG participants all agreed that if they found any land 
mines along the route they would report them to us.  They have reported no 
land mines."

This makes the use of ServiceData safer than trying to invent something 
else from the standpoint of IP hygene.  But it is no more possible to say 
"there are no IP claims" than it is to say "there are no land mines."

Best Regards-
Charlie Catlett
(GGF Chair)

Received on Wednesday, 11 June 2003 17:13:01 UTC