Christian,
Thanks for your comments.
I would like to add another point to Brian's review. I am concerned that the
"General Policy," as stated in section 3.1, does not really present the IETF
consensus. The current text says:
In all matters relating to Intellectual Property Rights, the intent
is to benefit the Internet community and the public at large, while
respecting the legitimate rights of others.
This is a bit misleading. The actual IETF approach is delineated in section
7, where it is explained that working group members are carefully weighting
tradeoffs between the potential benefits of using a patented technology, and
the potential impediments caused by licensing terms, or the uncertainty about
licensing conditions. The purpose of early disclosure is to help working
groups make informed decisions as early as possible, by opposition to
investing a lot of effort on a particular design before learning about the
IPR existence.
Pretty much the entire policy derives from that. So maybe it should be stated
upfront!
I think you are right.
Jari
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