[Apologies if this is off-topic, but I'm not sure where/how else to
discuss this]
Hi Joe,
On Jul 31, 2007, at 9:54 PM, Joe Andrieu wrote:
I expect that many of the leadership find this train of thought
distasteful. It is, as it stinks of unproductive legal
confrontations. But such are a part of life and business in high
tech entrepreneurship and development. Shoving it under the rug
doesn't make it go away.
I appreciate your comments, and I do believe that they are well-
intentioned and intended to be constructive.
That said, I can't help but wonder if this is one of the (few) cases
where we *can* ignore the problem, and it *might* go away.
From what I can see, several large organizations (e.g., Google,
Wikpedia, LinkedIn) have made major efforts to incorporate
microformat content. I personally find it hard to envision a
sustained legal challenge that would cause those organizations to
reverse course.
To be sure, that may simply be a lack of imagination on my (and
their) part. But -- as someone who deals with licensing on a regular
basis, as an OSI Board Observer -- the lack of formal legal
protection does not appear to be hindering microformats adoption "in
the large", even if there are individual corporations that choose not
to participate.
Under the circumstances, is there really any hard evidence that this
is something the community *must* deal with, or is it simply a "gut
feeling" based on how other standards organizations handle such issues?
-- Ernie P.
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