RAND objection

• From: Graham Daniell <graham.daniell@treasury.wa.gov.au>
• Date: Tue, 02 Oct 2001 11:06:24 +0800
• To: www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org
• Message-ID: <3BB92F30.489720B2@treasury.wa.gov.au>

I wish to make known my objection to the proposed RAND licensing model,
for the effect that it will have on software users worldwide.

It will mean that there will no longer be legal means to provide
shareware, try-before-you-buy ware, free software (such as that provided
by the Open Source development community, or any similar forms of
software distribution.  

This will hit the lowest paid users, notably poor developing countries,
as well as hindering the efforts of first world nations to provide web
access to all citizens.

In it's present form, it represents a gift to large multinational
companies to further strangle the rest of the community and the world.

I appeal for you to ensure that my fears do not come to fruition, and
that democracy will reign on the web and in software distribution.

Regards,
Graham Daniell
Perth, Western Australia

Received on Monday, 1 October 2001 23:11:03 UTC