- From: K Briscoe <kbriscoe@u.washington.edu>
- Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 07:47:30 -0700 (PDT)
- To: <www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org>
To whome it may concern: I understand that by only accepting RAND recommendations where no RF possibility exists, the W3C seeks to minimize the damage to the openness/platform-independence/accessibility of the World Wide Web that would be the obvious result of moving completely away from RF recommendations. However, this compromise is a false one, and ignores the reality of the competitive marketplace. Once RAND technologies become recommendations, they will necessarily become the extensions of existing marketing campaigns. Since "non-discriminatory" fees are to be collected, profits are to be made, even from those who cannot afford to pay them. The developers of content-creation tools (such as PageMill, FrontPage, and DreamWeaver) may choose to insert RAND technologies into the content their tools produce, thus providing a secondary revenue stream from an initial sale. Users could have "agreed" to pay for this RAND technology through a modified EULA. IP owners will seek to make RF technology irrelevant, and as they control a good deal of the content produced through their ownership of development tools, and they own nearly all of the browser market, they will succeed. The reason they would do this is not because of some conspiracy of IP owners, but because of simple economics. They will try to make profits wherever they can (through RAND technologies), and they will try to undermine competitors or technologies that threaten their revenue stream. If the W3C supports RAND in any form, I fear that there will be a schism, creating two World Wide Webs -- one of which is pay-to-play and the other of which is free for all. IP owners could ensure that these two are not mutually compatible through the marketing tools/products I've already mentioned. After all, compatibility would ensure a failure of the pay-to-play Web, so compatibility can and will be sacrificed for profit. I encourage the W3C to abandon RAND consideration for the following reasons: - RAND technologies by definition discriminate against those without reserves of cash. - RAND technologies will be used as marketing tools for products and thus to drive up revenues for the IP owner, to the point where the IP owner will undermine RF technologies wherever possible. - If RAND technologies become recommendations, the W3C may be replaced by a standards body capable of ensuring an interoperable, accessible World Wide Web. Keith Briscoe Content Creator
Received on Tuesday, 2 October 2001 10:47:35 UTC