W3C Flips, Endorses Royalty-free Standards

[Seth Johnson <seth.johnson@RealMeasures.dyndns.org>]

http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/internet/02/28/w3c.royalty.fre.idg/index.html

W3C Flips, Endorses Royalty-free Standards

By Scarlet Pruitt
February 28, 2002


(IDG) -- Responding to thousands of e-mail messages lobbying
against the attachment of royalty fees to World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C) standards, the group released a new draft
patent policy Tuesday endorsing free specifications.

The W3C, whose goal is to develop common protocols to ensure
interoperability on the Web, said that the new draft places
a "strong and explicit commitment" to royalty-free
standards. The group was met with a flurry of criticism last
August when it released its first patent policy working
draft, which opened the door for companies to claim patent
rights and collect royalties for standards endorsed by the
W3C.

The group said that it revised its patent policy draft after
receiving thousands of e-mail messages from both W3C members
and the public expressing concern about the royalty fees.
Advocates of open-source software, which is often
cooperatively developed and freely available over the Web,
were particularly unsettled by the possibility of royalty
rates being attached to international Web standards.
Although the group has changed its stance on the matter, it
said that it still has to figure out how to deal with
technology that is only available for a fee.

The W3C said that it is now seeking further public comment
on the new draft. At least one more public draft will be
released for review this year, the group said, and then a
final draft will be presented to the W3C Advisory Committee
Review. The director of that committee will decide the final
policy.