- From: Dr. Michael Evans <M.Evans@computer.org>
- Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2001 19:35:16 +0100
- To: <www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org>
To the members of the W3C, I wish to express my deep misgivings about the future direction of the web in general, and the W3C in particular, with regards to the current debate about patents and web technologies. The web is an extremely rare, and all the more precious, entity in that it is a truly free channel for the expression of ideas and publication of information. If patents are granted to web technologies then this free and uncensored information channel will be stifled forever. What company will create non-RAND technology when the technology they create can be patented *and* be included in a potentially ubiquitous standard? Even if they have only beneficial intentions when creating it, the company's ethos can change very quickly. Difficult trading conditions, new management, or just competition can soon lead a company to exploit its patents, effectively holding the web hostage. A patent-riddled web will blow up in the face of its users, who eventually will be forced to step through a legal minefield, visiting sites that instead of saying "best viewed with Netscape", as they used to at the height of the browser wars, say "can *only* be viewed using X-company's patented technology - no licence, no information". This brings the nightmare prospect of a suitably powerful company controlling both access to, and information on, the web, effectively making them the web's de facto censor. An environment without a censor, whose technical standards are free to use and free to develop, has led to the greatest collection of information the world has ever known. The environment becomes ubiquitous, new communities form, information that never had a voice is suddenly heard. An environment governed and controlled by a company, however, restricts the expression of the individual, retards the growth of technical innovation, and leads to huge power and profitability for the company at the expense of the system's users. How can the W3C, who fought so hard to maintain HTML standards when Microsoft and Netscape tried their hardest to subvert them in the browser wars, not realise that RAND will lead to the web's balkanisation on a scale that will dwarf that caused by incompatible HTML? The openness of the web in terms of its information, access, and technology, is the fundamental philosophical difference between it and all other information providers, and it is what has made the web the truly great ubiquitous information system we have today. I urge the W3C and the whole web community to fight RAND and to keep the web open and alive. Dr Michael Evans, Research Associate, Network Research Group, University of Plymouth, UK
Received on Wednesday, 10 October 2001 14:30:56 UTC