Patent policy comment

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.

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,

Bruce Watson
1421 Dellwood Drive
Raleigh, NC  27607
hogarth@directvinternet.com

Received on Friday, 12 October 2001 16:20:46 UTC