patent policy

To put it bluntly this is a load of crock.  The working draft talks about 
"open standards" and in the same breath of   "intellectual property" that 
needs to be patented. I find that to be a very serious contradiction.

Patented technology SHOULD NOT  be used for web standards. That mistake has 
been commited before (GIF as a defacto standard) with horrible consequences. 
Patented standards STIFLE innovation. They do NOT stimulate innovation as 
the draft so coyly suggests. Corporations which are bothered about their 
intellectual property need not make web standards that utilize their 
"property".

Received on Thursday, 11 October 2001 09:51:31 UTC