- From: D. Tweed <tweed@cs.bris.ac.uk>
- Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 05:21:32 +0100 (BST)
- To: www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org
I am a pretty much a general web _user_, and have no intention in the forseeable future of writing any web access software, Free/Open Source/... or otherwise. However, given the recent actions by Unisys regarding LZW compression patent on the GIF format and the argument (made much more eloquently by others' responses) that RAND patent licenses are either not `not discriminatory' as far as the Free/Open Source/... developers are concerned or are effectively the same as Royalty Free licenses, I would like to voice my strong concern about allowing RAND patents in W3 standards. Not only do these seem to grant respectability to the current system of extremely weakly granted software patents but they are also (in my opinion) make it extremely likely that the web will in future have areas which are no-go without closed source software. This concerns me because (a) as a linux user I'm very aware that many companies do not see linux ports as worthwhile, so stopping the possibility of Free/Open ... implementations will likely stop me from using those areas of the web and (b) given the significant number of closed source programs which clandestinely change Windows Registry settings, open channels for sending data back to their producers, etc I would be very wary of installing closed source software even if it did exist for my platform. I cannot pretend that I have looked into these issues in any significant depth but unless the above reasoning is actually `wrong' (as opposed to the response that `it's technically possible but you can trust the benevolence of people that it won't happen') I'm throwing my support behind the movement against allowing RAND patents in W3 standards. Yours faithfully, Dr D Tweed PS: I don't like having to say this on an e-mail to an open organisation but... You explicitly DO NOT have permission to archive my e-mail and use it for blanket e-mailings by yourselves or for use as a saleable commodity. www.cs.bris.ac.uk/~tweed/pi.htm |tweed's law: however many computers email: tweed@cs.bris.ac.uk | you have, half your time is spent work tel: (0117) 954-5250 | waiting for compilations to finish.
Received on Thursday, 11 October 2001 00:23:54 UTC