discriminatory patents

Dear W3C,

As a user of several programs which depend on web technology I have to strongly oppose the introduction of the RAND concept.

By the very way patents work they cannot ever be non-dicriminatory, except if available to anybody without cost. If there is a cost associated with the use of a patent, users without money are disciminated against. This also reflects the majority of the statements involving free software.

Furthermore software patents do not a firm legal basis in al countries and there for may not be applicable to all software developers. This results in uncertainty over the legal status of the W3C standards.

Regards,

Michiel Ettema