why software patents can not be non-discriminatory

	While I recognize the desire of the W3C not to be blindsided by
patents, and to state a reasonable policy regarding them, I strongly feel
than _any_ for-fee licensing required for a particular standard
discriminates against Open Source and Free software, the importance of
which the W3C surely recognizes.  However, fee-free licensing is not
sufficient, as a fee-free license could forbid a particular license (e.g.,
Open or Free ones like the BSD or GPL), or restrict the use of the
licensed materials in a way incompatible with an Open or Free license.  
As such, I urge you in the strongest way to amend the proposal to require
encumbered standards to be licensed in a way compatible with open-source
and free software.  Thank you for your time.

-Todd L. Miller

Received on Tuesday, 2 October 2001 20:45:18 UTC