- From: Greg Wilkins <gregw@mortbay.com>
- Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2001 12:31:14 +1000
- To: www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org
Hello, I am the director of a small software consultancy with offices in Sydney Australia and London UK. We currently have 5 consultants and our business is modelled around truely open standards. For the last 5 years we have maintained an opensource HTTP server and Servlet container (http://jetty.mortbay.org). For us, this has been a loss-leader - such that the time we spend developing this product is more than made up for by the consulting revenues that we get assisting out clients to use these openstandards. If the W3C allows patents to be included in the "open" standards, then our business model will no longer work. We will not be able to afford to license technology for open standards - even if this is at very low levels. If we are unable to track the latest/greatest developments, then our business model will no longer work. We will be out of business and 5 years of effort wasted. While I am not totally opposed to software patents, I believe that if a company wishes to hold and enforce a software patent, then they should do so on an entirely proprietry basis. If their inovation is truely worthwhile then they will be able to make their money from proprietry software. However, I do not see why open standards should be used to give commercial benefits to companies holding software patents. It is trying to have the best of both worlds. Either the technique is theirs on only available to their direct licensees OR they make the technique free for all and a true open standard, then they can benefit from the publicity and from the fact that they should have the best expertize and products for the technology. Why should other companies pay the patent holder so that they can implement and increase the availability of a proprietry software techniques? RAND will take away our choices - because we all know that we should be standards compliant, I will no longer have the choice to license or not license a particular patented software technique. I will never use the limited resources of my company to promote and distribute the patented techniques of a competitor. We would walk away from the standards rather than follow in that direction. regards -- Greg Wilkins<gregw@mortbay.com> GB Phone: +44-(0)7092063462 Mort Bay Consulting Australia and UK. Mbl Phone: +61-(0)4 17786631 http://www.mortbay.com AU Phone: +61-(0)2 98107029
Received on Thursday, 4 October 2001 22:31:18 UTC