Patent Policy Framework draft

To the W3C Patent Policy Working Group:

I agree with the EFF (I don't all the time) that having the W3C endorse
any standard that would require patent licenses to implement would be a
terrible idea.

Software patents in general are a bad thing, and having the W3C endorse
them would only legitimate their current legal status.  And of all the
software that should not be patented, that implementing open Internet
standards is perhaps the most important.

Don't do it!

Sincerely, 

Jason Duell
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm concerned about the recent Patent Policy Framework draft, which
could allow W3C members to charge royalty fees for technologies   
included in web standards.

In particular, I object to the inclusion of a "reasonable and
non-discriminatory" (RAND) licensing option in the proposed policy.
I believe that the exclusive use of a "royalty-free" (RF) licensing 
model is in the best interests of the Internet community, and that  
RAND licensing would always necessarily exclude some would-be
implementors, especially among open source and free software
developers.

I applaud the W3C for its tradition of providing open-source 
reference implementations and its work to promote a wide variety of
interoperable implementations of its open standards. The W3C can
best continue its work of "leading the Web to its full potential"
by continuing this tradition, and saying no to RAND licensing.

Received on Friday, 5 October 2001 17:18:02 UTC