- From: Boris Zbarsky <bzbarsky@MIT.EDU>
- Date: Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:20:11 -0500
- To: Mark Watson <watsonm@netflix.com>
- CC: "<public-html@w3.org>" <public-html@w3.org>
On 2/29/12 5:11 PM, Mark Watson wrote: >> Or put another way, we want to avoid creating barriers to entry into >> the device-making space, if we can. That means avoiding unnecessary >> restrictions on both the hardware and the software of potential new >> devices. > > We can all agree to avoid 'unnecessary' restrictions ;-) Well, sure. We might just disagree on the definition of "unnecessary". Requiring licensing for a CDM (either a patent or closed-source copyright license) from a consortium of your competitors might strike some as an unnecessary restriction and might seem perfectly fine to the members of said consortium, say. >> Again, it's not immediately clear to me how to reconcile that with the >> current licensing regime of TV and movie content, just like it's not >> clear to me how to reconcile that licensing regime with fair use >> rights.... > > I don't see a big problem with the former unless you are talking about a > 100% GPLv3 software stack. I don't see what GPLv3 has to do with my example of a custom-built device or a new device trying to enter the market. How does either one end up with a CDM in a way that's not open to abuse? (Note that RAND licensing is in fact open to abuse, as far as I can tell, though some claim it's not.) > Content authors and software authors sometimes make incompatible choices about how they wish to license the > product of their respective endeavors. Indeed. > But I don't see how that should affect our work here Well, it might insofar as we privilege one or the other set of choices, yes? > The latter seems to be a matter of public policy which should not > prevent us from supporting in HTML what is widely supported outside HTML > today. I think that enshrining things in de-jure specifications that implementations are then expected (and in some cases coerced, by law) to conform to always involves a certain aspect of public policy on the part of standards bodies... -Boris
Received on Wednesday, 29 February 2012 22:20:40 UTC