Patents and Standards

1)  a 60 day comment period is ridiculous.  Even with the web it takes more
than 60 days for information to gain general dissemination, unless it is
backed by a concerted publicity effort.
2)  Using patented technology goes directly against 3 of the 7 principles of
the W3C.  It should not be done.
  a) Trust- proprietary methods make it impossible to trust the system.
Just witness all the user problems in the software world caused by
proprietary standards.  It would take many years of court cases to establish
what "reasonable" and "non-discriminatory" mean, while anyone wishing to use
that standard would be subject to the whims of the patent owner.
 b) Interoperability- patented technology by definition is not
interoperable.  Only one method is allowed.  A standard must define WHAT
happens in regard to the web..  How it happens can be done in a number of
different ways, some of them possibly patentable.
 c) Evolvability- a patented standard will lock in the web to a particular
technology.  A patent is by definition does not evolve.  Any patent holder
will fight tooth and nail to prevent a change in standards that would reduce
their royalty income.

Using patents in open standards is a foolish and short-sighted policy.

Phil Cartier
ph: 5167

Received on Wednesday, 3 October 2001 09:22:36 UTC