Do I understand this issue?

Let me see if I am getting this right:

The W3C wants to allow companies to contribute software technology that they
have developed and patented (for the purposes of making money) as potential
W3C standards.

The idea behind the policy is that if the W3C doesn't institute it, these
companies will continue to develop and patent this technology anyway (for
the purposes of making money), but in a proprietary manner that will
theoretically make it more difficult to develop a competitive open standard.

The belief is that by allowing these companies to patent such technology,
only asking that they declare up front what their terms of use are (at least
in general terms), said companies will feel comfortable submitting their
work for approval as a W3C standard.

It is then hoped that the standards will continue to develop and evolve with
the contribution of such work.

So essentially, the Patent Policy Framework is meant:

1). To prevent the W3C from becoming irrelevant or impotent in the face of
an increasingly competitive environment.

2). To allow successful companies to point to their software as a "W3C
Recommendation" (i.e. a Web Standard (tm)) and make a little -- or a lot --
of money at the same time.

Does this sound about right?

Joseph R. Dietrich
A lowly web designer
yikes@evansville.net