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Re: An Internet Draft as reference material

2000-09-22 15:10:03

since RFcs are archival. However, many I-Ds do not make it through the process and to archive them may seem to elevate them to a status that they have not merited. I don't mean to suggest that these documents have not value. The next author of a book on the history of IETF standards would certainly find them of great value. But, I don't want to see them cited in some product marketing data sheet,


Rather than focus on tenuous possibilities, let's (re-)consider strong realites:

With inappropriate patents regularly being issued, we need to facilitate prior art searches. The body of Internet Drafts is an extraordinarily rich source of material for networking innovation.

If the patent office staff and patent infringement defense attorneys had searchable access to the database of Internet Drafts, their jobs would bne easier and the quality of their work would improve.

d/