patent policy of w3c

I would ask you hat the policy be amended to prohibit the imposition of
"field of use" restrictions on patent claims contributed to W3C
standards.

Field of Use restriction make it really uncertain and unclear whether
you are allowed or not to use a particolar idea in a piece of software
that slightly extend or "correct" a standard or such, and may impede
competitors to "extend" a standard in the same way the patent holder do,
in order to maintain compatibility.

It also mean it is a too high risk for little companies to develop w3c
standards as patent litigations cost too much, and this will stiffle
innovation, much more then a patent can foster.

It also will make it unclear whether free software can be made under
this policy which is a really harmful thing for the whole software
industry that is producing or using free software for everyday business.

regards,
Simo Sorce

-- 
Simo Sorce - simo.sorce@xsec.it
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