W3C Patent Policy - A Comment

Patented ideas do not belong in standards-based guidelines. To own a house
with a front lawn I do not have to use a specific brand of mower to maintain
it, nor do I need to use specific methods owned by someone else to water it.
Setting up standards that require use of a patented methodology to comply
simply removes them from being standards themselves.

Standards should remain open and free of the voluminous overhead of patented
contaminants. It's hard enough to do anything useful or innovative these
days as it is, requiring that people succumb to corporate interests under
the guise of 'standards' would simply further the Internet's slide downhill.

Please reconsider. Do not open W3C standards to contamination by patented
methodologies.

Sincerely,

Steve Smith
smsmith@pobox.com

Received on Wednesday, 3 October 2001 00:06:48 UTC