Patent Policy Framework draft

Dear W3C Patent Policy Working Group,

I'm concerned about the recent Patent Policy Framework draft, which could allow
W3C members to charge royalty fees for technologies included in web standards.

In particular, I object to the inclusion of a "reasonable and
non-discriminatory" (RAND) licensing option in the proposed policy. I believe
that the exclusive use of a "royalty-free" (RF) licensing model is in the best
interests of the Internet community, and that RAND licensing would always
necessarily exclude some would-be implementors.

I applaud the W3C for its tradition of providing open-source reference
implementations and its work to promote a wide variety of interoperable
implementations of its open standards. The W3C can best continue its work of
"leading the Web to its full potential" by continuing this tradition, and saying
no to RAND licensing.

Sincerely,

Gordon Fischer
Sarken Organization
fischer@sarken.org
512-481-0155

Received on Friday, 5 October 2001 11:11:57 UTC