Patent Policy

Dear Sirs,

I want to express my doubts about your new patent policy (RAND).

I think that fee based licensing for standards isn't particularly good idea.
Free standards are basis of Internet development. Internet and World Wide Web
wouldn't be here, at every desktop nowadays if the standards which rules the
Internet world wouldn't be open.

What about Open Source software ? Remember that Open Source projects (e.g. Apache)
often help to develop commercial software, and in fact help to develop standards,
so you are acting against yourselves.

Remember that W3C don't have a monopoly (or license) to produce specifications,
so Internet community could establish other, more reasonable, force to develop
and produce standards.

What about privacy and encryption standards ? If they wouldn't be open how they
could be publicly reviewed and verified ? Should anybody who wants to review
Internet privacy mechanisms, and help them to work better, pay for that ?

Please, remember that W3C is World Wide Web Consortium, a you wouldn't be there
if the WWW standard wouldn't be open.

Sincerely yours,
-- 
Wojtek Dworakowski
Technical Director - ABA Ltd,
wojtekd (at) aba.krakow.pl
tel. +48(12)4158782, fax. +48(12)4158783
Cryptography & Information Security: http://www.ipsec.pl

Received on Tuesday, 2 October 2001 03:26:30 UTC