Stephane Bortzmeyer wrote:
On Wed, Sep 08, 2004 at 12:04:48PM -0500,
wayne <wayne(_at_)midwestcs(_dot_)com> wrote
a message of 42 lines which said:
Would those of you who suggest ignoring the patent please also
volunteer to pay for any and all costs associated with a (potential)
lawsuit from MS for not using their license?
This is asking too much! I suggest instead, for those who claim that
the risk for the patent is quite low, to ask the IESG or the ISOC to
issue a clear statement that the patent is ignorable, thus providing
no money for legal fees but a strong support for future infringers.
I know, it contradicts RFC 2026 "10.3.2. Standards Track Documents",
"[The IESG] will take no position on the validity or scope of any such
rights." but it is better than asking for money. (And I believe, like
the Apache Software Foundation, that the IETF should change its patent
policy.)
And RFC 3667, 3668 and 3669. Rules aren't going to change in such short
time. As of now, the IETF cannot take a stand on the validity of any patent.
Yakov