- From: Dan Connolly <connolly@w3.org>
- Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 13:47:30 -0500
- To: Maciej Stachowiak <mjs@apple.com>
- Cc: Ben Meadowcroft <ben@benmeadowcroft.com>, 'Ian Hickson' <ian@hixie.ch>, 'HTML WG' <public-html@w3.org>
Maciej Stachowiak wrote: > > > On Apr 12, 2007, at 3:12 AM, Ben Meadowcroft wrote: > >> >> If you became editor and took input from people who have not agreed to >> the >> patent policy couldn't this introduce legal issues for implementors? >> > > The W3C has always had a policy of taking input from the general public > via public mailing lists that impose no special obligations to > subscribe. For example, the CSS working group accepts public comments on > its drafts via www-style@w3.org, despite also having a completely > private list. > > Note also that whether something is covered by a patent may bear no > relation to who suggested it. If I unwittingly suggest an idea that, for > example, IBM has a patent on, the fact that Apple agreed to the patent > policy affords no protection. Thanks, Maciej; that's a pretty good explanation. In fact, this is pretty much the same as one of the issues covered in the W3C Patent Policy FAQ. 6. How should Working Groups handle contributions from non-participants (e.g., meeting guests or on public lists)? http://www.w3.org/2003/12/22-pp-faq.html#non-participants -- Dan Connolly, W3C http://www.w3.org/People/Connolly/
Received on Thursday, 12 April 2007 18:47:35 UTC