- From: Branen Salmon <goatcheese787@yahoo.com>
- Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2001 14:24:03 -0700 (PDT)
- To: www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org
Patents have no place in Web standards. Much of the strength of the World Wide Web-- and virtually all of its brilliance-- are born of its openness. The open standards of the Web facilitate interoperability, accessibility, and compatability. Anyone who has the drive to participate, either as a creator or as a recipient, can do so relatively unencumbered, regardless of who they are or they are participating. This, in turn, fosters exploration, creativity, and genius in a collective effort to push the medium to its extreme. Web art and design discover ingenious ways of co-opting standards for aesthetic expression. News and publishing develop new paradigms of information dissemination. Commerce finds better ways to relate with consumers. These advances are made by organizations, academics, individuals, and corporations. They are made in the pursuit of the technical, the theoretical, and the pragmatic. They have flourished in an open environment, and in turn, have lit the way for further evolution of Web standards. Introducing patents to Web standards, however "reasonable" their licenses, would have a chilling effect upon the development of Web services and content. By commercially proprietarizing open standards, individuals, academics, and non-profit-driven parties are effectively excluded from the evolutionary process of the standards. While standards will continue to develop, their development will be along the conservative path that business practice dictates. Only those who do not have to fear financial loss can afford to experiment with the limits of the Web, to motivate its further expansion into areas not previously dreamed touchable. --branen salmon <goatcheese787@yahoo.com> __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Listen to your Yahoo! Mail messages from any phone. http://phone.yahoo.com
Received on Sunday, 30 September 2001 17:24:04 UTC