Patents not in the best interest of the web community

> Universal Access: To make the Web accessible to all by promoting
> technologies that take into account the vast differences in culture,
> education, ability, material resources, and physical limitations of
> users on all continents;
>
> Vision: W3C promotes and develops its vision of the future of the
> World Wide Web. Contributions from several hundred dedicated
> researchers and engineers working for Member organizations, from the
> W3C Team (led by Tim Berners-Lee, the Web's inventor), and from the
> entire Web community enable W3C to identify the technical requirements
> that must be satisfied if the Web is to be a truly universal
> information space.
> 
> Interoperability: Specifications for the Web's languages and protocols
> must be compatible with one another and allow (any) hardware and
> software used to access the Web to work together.

These are from the W3C's stated goals, role, and design principles
(http://www.w3.org/Consortium/).

While they don't clearly exclude patented technologies in web standards,
such phrases as "accessible to all", "truly universal", and "(any)
hardware and software" seem to be as inclusive as a mission statement
can be. Patents are used to exclude access, not to include or allow
access.

Please accept only RF Recommendations, to better accomplish the goals of
the W3C.

Thanks.

--Kurt
-- 
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our
freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." * Abraham Lincoln