What part of "Free" or "open" don't you understand?

With the "Why was it created?"heading of the FAQ, 
http://www.w3.org/2001/08/16-PP-FAQ.html#[1-2]
in mind, I have to ask why hasn't the W3c learned from the first decade
of the web that patents on internet standards are a bad idea?    

The web didn't grow exponentialy based on such patented formats as .pdf
or .doc .  Valuable time and energy have been wasted in getting away
from .gif files.   Even more time and energy will be wasted in
subverting the open nature of the web in the future.

If any standards require more licensing or royalties than png, they do
not qualify as "open" or "free".   Is that really so hard to understand?

Regards
Charles Dillon