On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 9:49 AM, Nagarjuna G.<[email protected]> wrote:
> On Sun, Aug 9, 2009 at 9:16 PM, jtd<[email protected]> wrote:
>> And can anybody elaborate how standards are going to be open and unencumbered
>> and yet covered by patents?
>>
>
> If a standard includes patented ideas, and the holder of the patent
> does not license it for royalty  free usage, and does not state that
> free software could use it, then such a standard is not open.  Though
> Sun had patents on some ideas related to ODF, they allowed royalty
> free usage and that free software could use it, making ODF an open
> standard.
>

Just to add:  similarly if a software includes patented ideas and is
released under GPLv3, then the copyright holder is explicitly making
it unencumbered.

-- 
Nagarjuna G.
http://www.gnowledge.org/
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