- From: George Smith <george.smith@asix.com>
- Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2001 09:20:06 -0700
- To: <www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org>
I would like to applaud the work of the W3C to date. However, the option of integrating RAND licensing into ANY W3C recommendation WILL, in my opinion, have a detrimental impact on the contributions (competitive and otherwise) to the Web of the Open Source Community. In a world where the "selling" price of a software based system can be anywhere from $0 to multi-millions, any license fee that has ANY fixed amount (as opposed to a percentage of either the "selling" price or the "profits") is by definition "discriminatory". If the W3C explicitly defines a RAND license as one based on a percentage (of either the "selling" price or the "profits"), then it seems to be workable. If not, then the W3C is simply creating an infrastructure that will create a future where Open Source is effectively "Illegal"! George Smith ASIX.com
Received on Tuesday, 2 October 2001 12:16:58 UTC