RAND policy

Sirs,

As a software developer I am very concerned about the W3C's position on
the RAND provisions of standards approval. I just learned of this
situation or I would have been more vocal about it in your study/review
phase.  

The entire world has seen the preditory practices of big business and the
dampening of innovation and creativity, not to mention the duplicate
efforts to avoid falling victim to a patented standards.  This has been
exemplified in the GIF controversy, the JAVA controversy, the
establishment of MS as a monopoly, and others.  

I am opposed to any standard that is not released on a royalty free basis.
 A non-free standard is called TAX and should only be available to the
government.  If a company develops something they wish to become a
standard, then they should release the rights to the item either to the
standards body, or the public domain.

The court system is overwhelmed with trying to interpret vague and
innocuous terms, words, and conditions.  This applies to civil
proceedings, as well as wording of the laws passed by congress.  Often
times we find we say things that we surely didn't mean, even after
intensive review (just look at the laws on pornography.)

If you wish to maintain your credibility, you will tread carefully down
the slippery path you have apparently chosen.  


-- 
Tom McDonald    <tom@compuclaim.com>

Do not take life too seriously; you will never get out of it alive.

Received on Sunday, 30 September 2001 09:31:54 UTC