- From: Stanley A. Klein <sklein@cpcug.org>
- Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2001 12:53:39
- To: www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org
- Cc: ieeeusa-ipc@ieee.org
The W3C has proposed a "Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory" patent policy under which it will include in its standards for the Web technology that is protected by patent and requires royalties to be paid for the use of the technology (and by implication the use of the standard). By the very definition given for a "Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory" patent policy, the policy is both unreasonable and discriminatory against free/open-source software. According to estimates, such software runs 60% of the Internet. In my view, if the W3C adopts such a policy, it will have forfeited its right to expect its standards to be honored by the community of Internet users. It will also create an incentive for the establishment of a competing standards body within the voluntary, consensus standards community that does not allow patented technology to be included in its standards without (as I understand it) royalty-free release of the patent to the public domain. Also, if I recall correctly, there was recent litigation in the US in which the holder of a patent included in a standard without disclosure to the standards committee lost its right to collect royalties because such a policy was violated. Stanley Klein
Received on Sunday, 30 September 2001 15:55:48 UTC