Section 3 of proposed patent policy

To Whom It May Concern:

It seems that section 3 of the W3C's proposed patent policy will still
allow the existence of "field of use" restrictions on technology
proposed to becode a standard.

This is unfortunate, because it may be used to inhibit free software
implementations of such a standard.  It is my hope that the W3C will
reconsider the implications of section 3, and decide to fully endorse
free software implementations of the standards.

Free and open-source software has played a crucial role in the creation
and growth of the Internet and the World Wide Web.  By discouraging free
software, there is a risk that the Internet will no longer be
open-access, and instead split into many sub-networks, running protocols
incompatable with each other.  This greatly decreases utility, and
prevents the Internet from reaching its full potential.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

James Graves

Received on Tuesday, 10 December 2002 16:08:53 UTC