- From: <Bernie@Hoefer.trw.com>
- Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2001 19:14:50 -0400
- To: www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 As a web developer, I do not believe it is in the best interest of the Internet community for the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to adopt the proposed patent policy. Indeed, I believe the Patent Policy Working Group's (PPWG's) first core principle, "Importance of interoperability for core infrastructure, lower down the stack..." sidesteps W3C's responsibility of creating total web standards by carving up standards into (lower stack) open areas and (higher stack) proprietary areas. This conflicts with the W3C organization's first goal, to "make the Web accessible to all by promoting technologies that take into account the vast differences in culture, education, ability, material resources, and physical limitations of users on all continents". If W3C does adopt this patent policy, it will just be a matter of time before the line between lower stack and higher stack operations is blurred, (most would argue it is already) creating an ownership to basic web functionality. I also believe the proposed policy will inhibit open source developers from implementing W3C standards. Although the reasonable and non-discriminatory (RAND) terms call for the "payment of *reasonable, non-discriminatory* royalties or fees" (emphasis mine), is the W3C to judge what is reasonable and non-discriminatory? I can see possible instances where an open source developer is locked out of implementing RAND licensed technology because the cost of licensing it is more than he or she can afford. This returns us to the "material resources" in W3C's first goal. The creation of the Internet was possible because of its open nature. Patented or proprietary standards are not standards, and would have ruined the Internet or web when being created. Future innovations should likewise be allowed to flourish in open environments where all may contribute. (These views are mine and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.) - -- Bernie Hoefer PGP e-mail is welcome! Get my 1024 bit signature key from: <http://pgpkeys.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x446A6F93>. Fingerprint is 1EA6 025D 9DFB 224E 69D4 CE0E 7241 A6A9 446A 6F93. "The more I know, the more I realize how much I do not understand." (E-mail munged to protect against spam. Change my address to fname.lname@company to e-mail me.) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.1 (GNU/Linux) Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org iD8DBQE7t6dNckGmqURqb5MRAu35AKCDcXP2qeBBzanBeHpMCEVM5m1PYwCfVGNC EZrSG/xMU+yUrwe6v2WUdn4= =LFlY -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
Received on Sunday, 30 September 2001 19:16:30 UTC