Patent Comments

To Whom It May Concern:

There will always be those who will choose to profit personally rather than contribute globally.  There will always be those who will work to privatize and monopolize rather than give and share.  The World Wide Web has grown to be a sounding board for the world, a place where people can post their ideas, share their visions and learn from others.   It was designed and implemented not out of greed, but out of a desire to contribute and share a vision with the world, and countless individuals have worked hard to protect that original vision, often by sacrificing personal weath for the benefit of all.   

However, now we are faced with organizations and individuals who are seeking to patent what they believe to be key web technologies in an effort to cash in for themselves at the expense of the online global community.   I urge W3C to join the open source web development community and all users worldwide in working to protect the free thought, free expression and open source technologies that have made the World Wide Web the great and grand success that it is.   I urge the W3C to help ensure that the Web is never controlled by the few for the benefit of the few, but remains free and open for all.  I urge the W3C to only include open source technologies in its standards.

We must remember that a patented technology is only valuable if it is implemented.  It is worthless if it is cast aside.  Do not bow down, do not give in to those who want to shackle and control the World Wide Web for profit.  Do not validate their selfish interests, and help line their pockets by standardizing patented technologies.  Protect online freedom, protect open source, protect the vision of men like Tim Berners-Lee who made the World Wide Web available to all by contibuting freely to all.  I urge you to do the right thing.

BD Kochis
Webmaster, ECS Inc.
Woodland Park, CO
bryan@ecscolorado.com