I'm opposed to the "reasonable and non-discriminatory" (RAND) licensing option

Dear W3C Patent Working Group,

I see the w3 as an organisation that help make the Web accessible to
everyone and to allow everybody to use whichever tool he wants on any
operating system to access it.  However,  the inclusion of a "reasonable and
non-discriminatory" (RAND) licensing option in the proposed policy could
fragment the Web as we know it.  It is already very difficult to write Web
content that is viewable in the miriad of Web browser out there (Opera,
Mozilla, Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, ...) that I can't imagine
the day when I will have to write to many different, incompatible standards
because they contain patents and that they are only use by a minority of
User Agent that can pay for it (For exemple, Mozilla will never be able to
use patented technologie, but Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer could,
so I would have to write some content FOR Mozilla and  some other for
Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator, which, in my opinion, is not
acceptable).

Internet Consultant
John White
john__white@hotmail.com

Received on Thursday, 11 October 2001 23:58:00 UTC