- From: Carlo Moneti <cmoneti@twcny.rr.com>
- Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2002 12:32:03 -0500
- To: www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org
Hello, If you are truly interested in promoting royalty-free patents to ease the adoption of common software standards, and for other socially beneficial ends, I urge you to define such licenses to be fully compatible with the GNU General Public License. Specifically, the imposition of "field of use" restrictions on patent claims contributed to W3C standards are a contradiction to the term "free": free as in "free to use" is at least equally important to free as in "free of charge". Furthermore, the concept "standard" inherently implies something for the common good; I have grave doubts about the awarding of patents rights for any kind of software. I don't think software patents serve any public good (meaning a long-term benefit to industry or technological advancement in society). I believe that if the W3C engages in any way to promote other than "freely" available technology, it will compromise its stature with software developers and the public-at-large. Sincerely, Carlo Moneti Developer
Received on Thursday, 28 November 2002 16:00:16 UTC