"Florian" == Florian Weimer <fw(_at_)deneb(_dot_)enyo(_dot_)de> writes:
Florian> * Eric S. Raymond:
>> Florian Weimer <fw(_at_)deneb(_dot_)enyo(_dot_)de>:
>>> Are you familiar with IETF IPR policies? Microsoft's Sender
>>> ID license was a perfectly acceptable RAND patent license.
>> Yes, I am familiar with those policies. Sender-ID is a
>> perfect illustration of why they no longer suffice.
Florian> If the failure of the MADRID WG was a "perfect
Florian> illustration", there wouldn't be so much disagreement
Florian> about what it actually means.
>> RAND is not good enough, not for open-source projects
Florian> This is certainly not news. Where have you been since
Florian> mid-2001? At least since the discussion about the W3C
Florian> patent policy, it's widely known that RAND terms
Florian> discriminate against Free Software.
What was interesting to come out of this particular incident is thtat
*royalty free RAND* is not good enough for open-source. I knew that
already; I suspect a lot of open-source people would know that if they
though about it.
I have no idea whether Microsoft intended to discriminate against free
software or simply didn't understand the free software constraints.
What I do know and find unfortunate is that a vendor wanting to
license a technology for use in an IETF standard in a manner that is
acceptable to the free software community might easily make a mistake.
The IETF documentation could easily lead one to believe that all
royalty free licenses are the same in the eyes of the IETF.
I think it would be wonderful if the free software community could
come to a consensus about what their requirements are. It would be
great if this were somehow communicated to the IETF. I also think it
would be valuable if the IETF made this information easily available
to IPR holders wanting to create licenses for their technology. I
hope we can all agree regardless of our position on whether the ietf
should use patented technology that the IETF should make it easy for
people who want to license their technolog in a free-software
compatible manner to do so.
--Sam
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