xml-dev - RE: sunshine and standards development

[Matt Sergeant <matt@sergeant.org>]

On Tue, 17 Oct 2000, Bill dehOra wrote:

> The W3C is funded by self-interested entities. If these entities are basing
> business strategy on the outcomes of the W3C's end-products (normative
> recommendations) and are arguing their case technically and strategically,
> and assuming (as I do) that are no technological motives for technology then
> it's a reasonable act of self-interest for them to ask for non-disclosure. 

This is the argument I have a real problem with. If the W3C is closed
simply so that the member organisations can get a "leg-up" over, say,
someone wanting to implement an open source equivalent of said
specification then something is really wrong with the system. How can this
situation end up with anything *but* competing implementations, rather
than interoperable, compatible implementations?

> Simply, the internet is not and never has been, free. 

Maybe you got there after I did. I remember a pretty free internet, when
companies didn't even know what the internet *was* (and I'm not even very
old!).

-- 
<Matt/>

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