W3C Patent Policy

Dear W3C Patent Policy Working Group:

We do not think, that the recent Patent Policy Framework draft
is helpful in regards to the continued development and
growth of the Internet.

The RAND licensing in the proposed policy will exclude potential
developers, especially open source and freeware.

I'd like to remind you, that most of the Internet and the web
is/was based upon the idea of freely interoperable methods.
W3C has supported the community with open-source
implementations of its open standards. There is still so much
to do and we all still need much development. We believe that
W3C should continue its work the way it has served the
community over the last years so well, thus
saying NO to RAND.

Sincerely,

Michaela Merz
CEO
Steyla Technologies Corporation Group
Founder of germany.net, Germany's first
web based OnlineService (1994)

Received on Friday, 5 October 2001 09:18:42 UTC