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W3C bows to royalty-free pressure

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-965863.html


W3C bows to royalty-free pressure

By Margaret Kane

Staff Writer, CNET News.com

November 14, 2002, 12:10 PM PT

An Internet standards body has decided to drop a controversial proposal that would have allowed patent holders to charge royalties on technology used in Web standards.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), a standards body that oversees some Internet protocols, has today released a last-call working draft of its policy on patents. In an earlier draft, the proposal allowed companies with patent rights on technology behind standards authorized by the W3C to demand royalties from companies using those standards. It now states that all members who participate in a proposed standard must agree to license any relevant patents on a royalty-free basis.

[...]


See

http://www.w3.org/TR/2002/WD-patent-policy-20021114/

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