- From: Dave McFadden <coyote@vigoris.net>
- Date: 30 Dec 2002 22:24:39 -0600
- To: www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org
- Cc: rosalind <druidqueen2@yahoo.com>
Dear Sirs, I am writing in support of the Free Software Foundation's objection to the allowance of field of use restrictions in the proposed W3C patent policy. We live in a historic time, a fact called to our attention on a daily basis when we read of ludicrous overly-broad patents and patents based on prior art being granted: our legal system cannot fully and rightly judge patents for software, yet it has full authority to do so. Web standards should not facilitate or risk further confusion in software patent law either directly or indirectly. Please conform the proposed policy to the General Public License and help simplify and encourage the development of future royalty-free software. Surely our best course is to adopt consistent policies if we are to promote consistent standards. Conformance to the General Public License will encourage web standards. Opening the grey door to court interpretation of field of use will not. Regards, Dave McFadden
Received on Tuesday, 7 January 2003 19:12:59 UTC