Re: [xml-dev] Re: W3C ridiculous new policy on patents

[David Brownell <david-b@pacbell.net>]

> Patents do not extort.  They are licensed.

The fact that the extortion has bought-and-sold parts
of the legal system behind it doesn't make it any less
an extortion process.  In fact it makes the "tax" part
of the analogy even stronger.  "To be a part of the
on-line global commons, you must pay $N to this
company, $M to that one, ..."

"No taxation without representation", as the saying
went a few hundred years back.  Of course, today
corporations can buy representation that citizens
can't, including free access to "patents" which were
once handed out only to Friends of the King ...


>      You are  
> demanding other's property for free if the W3C 
> harvests it.  

The W3C labels fields as part of the commons.  You
can still harvest from Farmer Z's field, if he/she lets you;
likely you'd have to pay to do that.  W3C needs to be
preventing Z's field from being labeled "commons" if
it's not actually commons.

- Dave


> From: David Brownell [mailto:david-b@pacbell.net]
> 
> http://it.mycareer.com.au/news/2001/10/09/FFX52P06JSC.html
> 
> This story includes a judgement ("back to the drawing board")
> that's perhaps a bit premature.
> 
> Interesting question:  how many peoples' comments to W3C
> addressed problems with that policy beyond its willingness to
> support using (mostly first world) patent law to extort license
> taxes from the whole world?