Re: W3C Director's Blog on EME

On Thu, 2017-03-09 at 07:13 -0800, Cory Doctorow wrote:
> To my knowledge, the W3C is not a company, but a nonprofit
> standards-development consortium hosted by three universities.
> 
> I'd welcome corrections on this, but the distinction makes a
> difference
> inasmuch as presiding over a consortium is a matter of forging
> consensus
> among the members, while being in charge of a company is about serving
> one's shareholders and corporate charter.

Cory's comment prompted me to do a little research (I LOVE research!)

This is what I found so far (I will digest this info later--this is just
a collection of what I found important):

* It costs quite a bit to be a member:
https://www.w3.org/Consortium/fees (cheapest is 2,500USD for small NPO
in America 2,250 USD)
* This is the published member list:
https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Member/List
* These are the published principles of W3C:
https://www.w3.org/Consortium/mission#principles

Some quotes from the page --

> Design Principles
> The following design principles guide W3C's work.
> 
> 
> Web for All
> The social value of the Web is that it enables human communication,
> commerce, and opportunities to share knowledge. One of W3C's primary
> goals is to make these benefits available to all people, whatever
> their hardware, software, network infrastructure, native language,
> culture, geographical location, or physical or mental ability. Learn
> more about:
> 
>       * Web Accessibility Initiative 
>       * Internationalization 
>       * Mobile Web for Social Development 
> Web on Everything
> The number of different kinds of devices that can access the Web has
> grown immensely. Mobile phones, smart phones, personal digital
> assistants, interactive television systems, voice response systems,
> kiosks and even certain domestic appliances can all access the Web.
> Learn more about:
> 
>       * Web of Devices 
>       * Mobile Web Initiative 
>       * Browsers and Other Agents 

* This is the published vision:
https://www.w3.org/Consortium/mission#vision

Quoted below:


> Vision
> W3C's vision for the Web involves participation, sharing knowledge,
> and thereby building trust on a global scale.
> 
> 
> Web for Rich Interaction
> The Web was invented as a communications tool intended to allow
> anyone, anywhere to share information. For many years, the Web was a
> "read-only" tool for many. Blogs and wikis brought more authors to the
> Web, and social networking emerged from the flourishing market for
> content and personalized Web experiences. W3C standards have supported
> this evolution thanks to strong architecture and design principles.
> Learn more about:
> 
>       * Web Design and Applications 
>       * Web Architecture 
> Web of Data and Services
> Some people view the Web as a giant repository of linked data while
> others as a giant set of services that exchange messages. The two
> views are complementary, and which to use often depends on the
> application. Learn more about:
> 
>       * Essential XML Technologies 
>       * Semantic Web 
>       * Web of Services 
> Web of Trust
> The Web has transformed the way we communicate with each other. In
> doing so, it has also modified the nature of our social relationships.
> People now "meet on the Web" and carry out commercial and personal
> relationships, in some cases without ever meeting in person. W3C
> recognizes that trust is a social phenomenon, but technology design
> can foster trust and confidence. As more activity moves on-line, it
> will become even more important to support complex interactions among
> parties around the globe. Learn more about:
> 
>       * Semantic Web 
>       * XML Security, Web of Services Security 
>       * Privacy 

* Definition of "openness" at https://www.w3.org/Help/


>       * All standards are available publicly at no cost
>       * W3C adopted a Patent Policy in 2004 with the stated goal of
>         assuring "that Recommendations produced under this policy can
>         be implemented on a Royalty-Free (RF) basis."
>       * W3C Process requires that groups address public comments
>       * All technical comments are handled on their merits, whether
>         they are made by W3C Members or public.
>       * W3C's process is vendor-neutral.
>       * W3C's persistence policy seeks to ensure that standards will
>         be available at the same URI, unchanged, indefinitely.
>

Received on Thursday, 9 March 2017 17:18:50 UTC