Do not allow "RAND" patents to pollute W3C standards

It has just occurred to me that allowing RAND patents to be included in W3C standards would be the most destructive thing that the W3C could possibly do to it's standards. W3C members could conspire to add RAND patents to every single new version of the W3C recommendations and there would be a great motivation to do so. While this would require the collaboration of W3C members, the advantages would be enormous and it will always be the case the corporations act to increase revenue.

If, for example, the next version of the HTTP protocol included a patent from a major corporation, it is very likely that the apache web server would not be able to support the protocol. This despite that apache is currently the most used web server on the internet. It would be reprehensible for the W3C to open the door to this kind of abuse.

I for one would not be comfortable if I knew that a standard that I was adopting had the potential to include patents for which I would have to pay royalties without any form of recourse on my part.

jamie.