- From: James <Jamesm@triad.rr.com>
- Date: Wed, 03 Oct 2001 14:04:58 -0400
- To: www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org
Hi: Hitherto, the W3C has chosen to eschew any standard that would incur a patent payment. Should this policy change, those companies involved in the standards setting process will be faced with a conflict of interest. No longer will, for instance, IBM merely advocate a standard that is technically best. It may choose to advocate standards that make the most money for IBM. Other companies will of course oppose it, and there will be some give and take. What's most frightening is the possibility that a "compromise" solution will be reached, in which IBM's patented standard will be used, and in return, the patented standards of some of its competitors will also be used. Such a compromise solution would greatly increase the cost for small and mid-size companies to build standards-compliant products, while providing zero or negative technical benefits versus the open alternative. Overall, allowing companies to charge royalties will slow the pace of innovation while increasing costs. -James
Received on Tuesday, 2 October 2001 13:57:17 UTC