RAND

Hello,

I see no reason why a standard produced by the W3C should be encumbered by
fee based patents. You state that this will remove the FUD factor, however,
this will increase that factor among developers trying to follow the
standards. If we have to constantly check to see whether we are infringing
upon a fee-based patent simply to maintain standard compliance, we will be
unduly burdened, and will ultimately decide not to follow the standard.

If there are groups which wish to have their patented technology included in
a standard, they should place that patent into a royalty-free model. If they
do not wish to do so ( a reasonable business decision) then that technology
should not be considered for the standard.

If this proposal passes, you are setting everyone up to be forced to pay
select groups large amounts of money for simply maintaining standards
compliance. That is unacceptable, and will undermine the W3C authority in
this area.

Dave MacKinnon

Received on Tuesday, 2 October 2001 12:41:16 UTC