- From: Daniel Phillips <phillips@bonn-fries.net>
- Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2001 17:36:20 +0200
- To: Martijn Dekker <martijn@inlv.demon.nl>, www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org
On October 25, 2001 10:22 pm, Martijn Dekker wrote: > Microsoft, one of the prime RAND patent policy proposers, is now > actively blocking browsers such as Opera, iCab, and Mozilla from > accessing msn.com. Apart from IE, only Netscape is let in. Others are > given no option but to change their HTTP ID string (if they know how > to do that) or download MSIE. > > Just an other indication of what they are really after. It is > certainly one of those things that sheds real light of what the RAND > patent policy proposal is all about: creating monopolies, not > standards. > > With this kind of behavior, they have no business being part of a > purportedly open standards organization. We have probably not focussed enough on Microsoft's roll in this whole, sorry affair. A little digging turns up this news item from 1989: http://www.zdnet.com/sp/stories/news/0,4538,2205109,00.html Which covers some of the spin control Microsoft did after it became known that they had been granted a patent covering two principle components of a W3C recommendation, CSS and XSL. Microsoft filed for the patent while participating in drafting the recommendation. http://www.delphion.com/details?pn=US05860073__ (US5860073: Style sheets for publishing system) Microsoft had this to say: "Lots of companies file patents every day," says Kate Sako, Microsoft senior corporate counsel, attempting to downplay any rancor caused by Microsoft's actions. "Some standards bodies have patent rules. Some say you can submit technologies that are patented but companies must be able to license them on a nondiscriminatory basis." Note the use of the ND word. I found this comment from the article particularly interesting: Sako claims that, until fairly recently, the W3C had no patent policy. But early on, Microsoft told the organization that it would make any of its patented technology available on a royalty-free, reciprocal basis, she says. What, a W3C patent policy? Wait a minute, this article is from 1999. So Microsoft apparently knew at that time that W3C had a patent policy that we didn't know about. Coupled with Microsoft's Style Sheet patent strategem, reminiscent of the Rambus affair, a pattern starts to emerge. Microsoft has kept a curiously low profile through this whole affair. Perhaps they are letting others do their dirty work for them? If anybody knows more about Microsoft's possible involvement in the promotion of patented web standards, this is the place to send that information: http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm -- Daniel
Received on Friday, 26 October 2001 11:35:41 UTC