Backdoor attempt to banish Open-Source from the Web?

I think that the rest of the world is smelling a rat
here. Consider the following scenario:

- Some company patents a new content-format, and it is
approved by the W3C under a RAND license.
- Some non-free browser vendors are able to pay the
royalties and implement the new format. Others (e.g.
Open Source ones) cannot afford to and so are left
out.
- Another non-free web-authoring tool vendor then adds
the new content-format to its product, all under the
banner of W3C-compliance. Again, Open-Source tools are
left out.
- Marketed under the banner of being "fully W3C
compliant", people start generating web-pages
containing the new content format, all of which are
unreadable to people running Open-Source browsers on
Open-Source operating systems.

And imagine if the browser vendor and web-authoring
tool vendor were the same company, who also owned the
dominant desktop operating system. Imagine also if the
browser and authoring tools were bundled with that
operating system to achieve maximum market penetration
in the shortest possible time.
Do you get the impression that maybe some companies
are trying to seize control of the web by saturating
it with proprietary content? That maybe the W3C is
being used as the wrapper for their poison candy?

Please ensure that the World-Wide Web *remains*
world-wide and available to *all* by rejecting RAND
licensing in favor of open and royalty-free licensing.

Sincerely,
Chris Rankin


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Received on Sunday, 30 September 2001 14:23:14 UTC