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RE: [xml-dev] Re: W3C ridiculous new policy on patents
- From: Frank Richards <frichards@softquad.com>
- To: xml-dev@lists.xml.org
- Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 11:56:52 -0400
>>>
Patents do not extort. They are licensed. You are
demanding other's property for free if the W3C
harvests it. Otherwise, there is no issue here.
>>>
That's the theory anyway. In practice I think submarine patents steer pretty
darn close to extortion, as do the software patents of art well known to
those in the field but not documented in those places where patent examiners
look. And the practice of licensing those patents for just less than it
would cost any individual victim to get them overturned.
"Danegeld" is the term that comes to mind.
Frank