- From: Janet Daly <janet@w3.org>
- Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 14:37:09 -0700
- To: w3c-news <w3c-news@w3.org>
Today, Tim Berners-Lee, director of the W3C and inventor of the Web,
responded to a call for comments from the US Copyright Office, regarding
a proposal to restrict users to only one vendor browser in order to
submit forms to that office. It's the view of the W3C that optimization
of Web site services should be based on Web standards, not any single
vendor's software platform. After all, that's what standards are for.
For more information, please contact the W3C Communications Team
representative in your national region, or speak with Janet Daly
directly, at +1 617 253 5884 <janet@w3.org>.
US Copyright Office Proposal:
http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2005/70fr44878.html
W3C response, signed by Tim Berners-Lee:
http://www.w3.org/2005/08/22-w3c-prereg-standards-comments.html
The text of letter in full:
22 August 2005
By Hand and on the Web at
http://www.w3.org/2005/08/22-w3c-prereg-standards-comments.html
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Copyright Office
James Madison Memorial Building, Room LM-401
101 Independence Avenue, SE., Washington, DC 20559-6000
In Re: 37 CFR Part 202 [Docket No. RM 2005-9]
The United States Copyright Office has requested [1] comment on whether
a requirement that certain online forms be submitted only through the
use of a single vendor's World Wide Web browser, to the exclusion of any
other hardware or software product or service designed to conform with
Web standards. Such a policy, even if implemented for a short time,
would impose a number of practical barriers on those seeking to exercise
their pre-registration rights. The proposed system would be contrary to
at least the spirit of Federal information policy adopted by the
E-Government Act of 2002, as well as important OMB management directives
regarding Federal Enterprise Architecture and the directive to use
voluntary consensus standards. At the outset, we would like to stress
that nothing in this letter should be construed as a criticism of
Microsoft's Internet Explorer, which is one of the leading browsers in
the field. We would write the same letter if the choice was to offer
support solely for Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or any other product. The
failing of the proposed implementation of the preregistration system is
its lack of support for standards, not its choice of software.
As a background to the Copyright Office's decision to attempt to offer
services over the Web without the use of standards, it is important to
keep in mind the Web was born and achieved widespread use only because
of a commitment to open, vendor-neutral standards. The early Web faced
the threat of fragmentation through the actions of competing browser
vendors. These actions actually jeopardized the broader adoption of the
technology. In response to this threat, we created the World Wide Web
Consortium as a global organization, currently over 390 members, for the
purpose of enabling the ongoing development of Web standards. Since
those early days in 1994, we have witnessed the creation of tremendous
opportunities, technical, social, and commercial, the world over, in
large part due to the commitments of corporate and not-for-profit
entities to the development of technical standards that may be
implemented in diverse settings and for diverse purposes. Since then,
those content providers, software vendors and service providers who have
adopted a standards-based strategy have seen benefits not possible with
a proprietary approach.
Proposed Single-Vendor Preregistration Service Will Exclude Large
Classes of Potential Users
From a practical perspective, the single-vendor restriction will deny
preregistration benefits entirely to broad classes of creators of
covered copyrighted works. The flaw in the proposed implementation of
the preregistration system lies in the failure to rely on voluntary
consensus standards that are widely adopted and readily suited to the
task identified by the Copyright Office. To illustrate the disadvantages
of departing from standards-based solutions, we will consider the impact
of the specific design proposed in the Supplementary Notice. While a
large proportion of the marketplace uses the Microsoft Internet Explorer
to browse the Web, certain classes of users will find it either
impossible or extremely inconvenient to do so. Of the three popular
desktop computing platforms in use at the present -- Microsoft Windows,
Apple Mac OS, and Linux/Unix -- the latest versions of Internet Explorer
are only available for the Microsoft Windows family of operating
systems[2]. In some cases, users or their institutions may curtail the
use of a browser temporarily or permanently based on flaws in the
particular software product. So even though a user may have a software
platform which would support Internet Explorer, that service may be
disabled for some reason. Note that this is not a problem unique to
Internet Explorer. Various browsers have suffered security breaches and
the response, often, is to stop using that browser either permanently or
until the security bug is fixed. During that time, the user would be
entirely unable to use the preregistration system. A standards-based
strategy would ensure that users can continue to access Copyright Office
services notwithstanding the transient security problems that are
inevitable for any single piece of software and have plagued all of the
popular browsers at one time or another.
While one generally considers the Web to be a service used from a
desktop or laptop computer, today's Web applications are become
increasingly mobile and reliant upon browsers written for cell phones,
PDAs and other non-PC devices. Many of these devices come with
standards-compliant Web browsers, but users often have no choice
whatsoever in the type of browsing software installed. Some mobile
devices are available with mobile versions of Internet Explorer, but
many are not. The NPRM specifically cites the need to preregister movie
dailies. It is easy to imagine that one would want to make such
registration immediately upon completing a film shoot. In that case, the
most practical and timely option might be to access the Copyright Office
PRE form from a mobile Web-enabled cellphone or PDA. Restricting access
to Internet Explorer only would then unfairly exclude those creators
from the benefits of preregistration.
One of the distinct benefits of online access to government services is
the increased opportunities it offers to people with disabilities. The
policy of requiring use of a particular software product for accessing
Copyright Office services, however, could put Web users with
disabilities at a significant disadvantage. Users with disabilities
often must augment their browsing software with special assistive
software and/or hardware ("assistive technology"). The combination of
assistive technology and Web browser that a given individual with
disabilities has installed and configured may or may not be based on
Internet Explorer, given the varied accessibility features of mainstream
browsers. In addition, some individuals with disabilities rely on
alternative browsers (for instance, "talking browsers") that are
designed to meet their specific needs. Users with disabilities rely on a
standards-based Web to ensure that services they access on the Web will
be usable through the variety of mainstream software and specialized
assistive technologies that they use. A single-vendor strategy such as
that proposed here will force many disabled users to re-tool their
software and hardware environment, or face exclusion from the
preregistration services. The practical effect of this exclusion will
not only be on content creators themselves, but also on any employees of
content creation firms whose job it is to make preregistration submissions.
Single Vendor Service is Contrary to Federal Information Policy
In addition to the numerous practical impediments that the proposed
vendor-specific, non-standard implementation will pose, we believe that
the strategy of designing a government Web service around a specific
piece of software as opposed to seeking conformance with existing and
widely used voluntary industry standards is contrary to Federal
information policy. Congressional enactments like the E-Government Act
of 2002 clearly encourage "the use of the Internet and emerging
technologies within and across Government agencies to provide
citizen-centric Government information and services" [3]. In
implementing the policies of the E-Gov Act, the Office of Management and
Budget has stated that agency policy should seek to minimize "burden on
business by re-using data previously collected or using XML or other
open standards to receive transmissions" [4]. The recommended strategy
is to "employ 'smart' buying practices to reduce acquisition and support
costs, including software asset management; and increase the use of
standards-compliant software" [4]. According to longstanding policy (see
OMB Circular A-119 [5]), standards compliance entails using "voluntary
consensus standards in lieu of government-unique standards except where
inconsistent with law or otherwise impractical." We can see no reason
why a standards-compliant solution is impractical. If it is, there is
nothing in the NPRM that explains why. Hence, we believe that the
Copyright Office should reconsider its proposal to implement a single
vendor solution and instead pursue a standards-based policy. This will
ensure that all eligible beneficiaries will have access to Copyright
Office services, and that the Office is compliant with Federal law and
policy, and it is likely to save the Office money in the long run.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/
Tim Berners-Lee, <timbl@w3.org>
Director, World Wide Web Consortium
/s/
Daniel J. Weitzner, <djweitzner@w3.org>
Technology and Society Domain Leader, World Wide Web Consortium
Notes
1. The Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking "seeks information
whether any potential preregistration filers would have difficulties
using Internet Explorer (version 5.1 or higher) to file preregistration
claims." More generally, "in the interest of achieving support for
browsers in the Office's preregistration processing environment, this
notice inquires whether (and why) an eligible party who anticipates
preregistering a claim on the electronic-only form will not be able to
use Internet Explorer to do so, or will choose not to preregister if it
is necessary to use Internet Explorer."
http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2005/70fr44878.html (accessed August 20,
2005).
2. Some may consider the use of Internet Explorer on the Macintosh
platform impractical as Microsoft announced in 2003 that it stopped
development of Internet Explorer for the Macintosh. See Ian Fried,
"Microsoft: No new versions of IE for Mac," CNET News.com, June 13,
2003. http://news.com.com/2100-1045_3-1017126.html (accessed August 20,
2005).
3. E-Government Act of 2002, Public Law 107-347, § 2 (b)(5).
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_cong_public_laws&docid=f:publ347.107.pdf
(accessed August 20, 2005).
4. Implementing the President’s Management Agenda for E-Government,
E-Government Strategy, (April 2003).
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/2003egov_strat.pdf (accessed August
20, 2005).
5. OMB Circular A-119, (February 10, 1998).
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a119/a119.html (accessed August
20, 2005).
--
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
Janet Daly, Global Communications Officer
MIT/CSAIL, Building 32-G518
32 Vassar Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
voice: 617.253.5884
fax: 617.258.5999
http://www.w3.org/
janet@w3.org
Received on Monday, 22 August 2005 21:37:15 UTC