- From: <gregory.d.dickson@accenture.com>
- Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 16:14:08 -0500
- To: www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org
Dear W3C Patent Policy Working Group, 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. Why would we want to promote an open communications medium that would require royalties to be paid to a patent holder. The idea behind the patent process is to protect the creator's intellectual property so as to provide an impetus for innovation. The forum of the web already has enough impetus to provide for this innovation without allowing web protocols, etc. to be patented. This would have the effect of removing any open source implementations and implementations by small individual developers that could not afford to license the patent (shareware or freeware 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. Sincerely, Gregory D. Dickson Manager Accenture This message is for the designated recipient only and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the original. Any other use of the email by you is prohibited.
Received on Monday, 8 October 2001 22:20:29 UTC