Royalty-free (RF) is the only acceptable 'compromise'

I urge standards groups to eschew any attempts to control the standards
through commercial processes.

To be successful, standards must be widely available, then widely
implemented.

If the W3C has a goal of maximizing the implementation of standards, then
NO standard that is the subject of a patent should be adopted.  The battle
over the P3P standard is an example of why adopting any technology that is
the subject of a patent.

Once patents are involved, you end up having to spend money on attorneys,
which detracts from the W3C's core technical mission of developing and
promulgating standards.

If the W3C has a goal of supporting commercial entities, then it's easy to
see why an RAND (Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory [fees]) policy is the
only possibility that would be acceptable to companies that have large sums
of money to spend on attorneys and technical writers.

If the W3C has a goal of producing standards that will actually be
implemented, then RF is the only acceptable policy.

- Ralph Hyre

Received on Tuesday, 9 October 2001 14:10:59 UTC