FYI.
Begin forwarded message:
See: http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20050222131432302
A Call to Action in OASIS
The free and open source software community has long demanded that industry
standards be freely available to all to implement without patent or other
licensing encumbrances. Open standards are essential for free software and
open source to thrive.
Now OASIS, a major industry consortium that produces e-business and Web
services standards, has adopted a patent policy that threatens to undermine
our development and licensing model. This patent policy (available, grouped
together with other unrelated legal issues, in
http://www.oasis-open.org/who/intellectualproperty.php) permits standards to
be based upon so-called "reasonable and non-discriminatory" patent license
terms--terms which invariably and unreasonably discriminate against open
source and free software to the point of prohibiting them entirely. It would
lead to the adoption of standards that cannot be implemented in open source
and free software, that cannot be distributed under our licenses. While the
policy includes a provision for royalty-free standards, it is a secondary
option, which will have little effect if a few OASIS members with patents can
ensure it is not used. The OASIS patent policy will encourage large patent
holders to negotiate private arrangements among themselves, locking out all
free software and open source developers.
This is not a new issue for us. We fought hard for a royalty-free patent
policy in W3C and encouraged that standards organization to commit its
members to open standards. But some W3C member companies, steadfast opponents
of software freedom, moved their efforts to OASIS. Without consulting the
free software/open source community, they produced a patent policy designed
so that we cannot live with it.
We ask you to stand with us in opposition to the OASIS patent policy. Do not
implement OASIS standards that aren't open. Demand that OASIS revise its
policies. If you are an OASIS member, do not participate in any working group
that allows encumbered standards that cannot be implemented in open source
and free software.
Please send email to open at rosenlaw.com to indicate your support. We will
forward your comments to the proper authorities at OASIS.
If we stand united in opposition to this unacceptable patent policy, we can
persuade OASIS to change it.
/signed/
Lawrence Rosen Bruce Perens Richard Stallman Lawrence Lessig Eben Moglen Marten Mickos John Weathersby John Terpstra Tim O'Reilly Tony Stanco Don Marti Michael Tiemann Andrew Aitken Karen Copenhaver Doug Levin Dan Ravicher Larry Augustin Mitchell Kapor Russell Nelson Guido van Rossum Daniel Quinlan Murugan Pal Stuart Cohen Danese Cooper Eric Raymond Mark Webbink Ken Coar Doc Searls Brian Behlendorf
_______________________________________________
Web-Site: http://www.oekonux.org/ Organization: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Maja van der Velden Oslo, Norway http://www.globalagenda.org
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