W3C Rejects Patents on Net Tech
Robert McMillan,
Wired News,
Nov 18, 2002
An important announcement from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as it decides to ensure that all web standards are royalty free. "A royalty-free patent policy would distinguish the W3C from other standards groups that allow for what is known as 'reasonable and nondiscriminatory,' or RAND, licensing of patented technology in their standards. Critics of RAND licensing say it will allow large companies to essentially place a toll on Internet software. 'If we have the situation where, to intercommunicate, you have to license someone's patent, that not only locks out small companies, it locks out open source,' said free-software advocate Bruce Perens."CRLF
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