- From: Russ Magee <rmagee@home.com>
- Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2001 20:33:59 +0100
- To: www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org
Dear Sirs, As a developer it greatly concerns me that the W3C is considering allowing for-royalty, patented algorithms/protocols into the W3C standards process. I feel this be detrimental to the further development of the Internet, as a whole, for the following reasons: 1) Compatibility. If a patented process is used, and organizations do not wish to license said process for some reason, an incompatible alternative to that process will likely arise; we already have too many 'standards wars' between competing organizations in the world of software. 2) Free Software. Despite the reassuring words 'non-discriminatory licensing' mentioned in the RAND policy, who is to decide what, exactly, is a fair price? A fee of $5000 USD for a license to an algorithm, charged to everyone who wished to use it, would qualify as non- discriminatory; yet it would most certainly freeze out any developer who was writing a program as Open Source/Free Software. This policy could be used by certain motivated parties as a means to make it effectively intractable to develop W3C standard-compliant software without being backed by a large corporate body. This goes against the established principles of the Internet which have served all of us so well until today -- that of free, open standards encouraging cross-platform interoperability. It is my sincere hope that the W3C consider either of the following: 1) Discard the RAND clause completely, retaining the current view (as I understand it to be) that all patented, for-fee processes are NOT valid for consideration as W3C standards; or 2) The clause be modified to state that not-for-profit, Free Software or Open Source organizations, as well as individuals not working on behalf of any commercial entity must be exempted from any patent license fees for using W3C standards; and that any commercial entity submitting a patented process for W3C standards consideration agree to these terms. Sincerely, Russ Magee, Instructional Assistant/Systems Administrator, Mount Royal College, Calgary, Canada rmagee@blitter.com
Received on Sunday, 30 September 2001 22:34:36 UTC