Protests To W3C's Patent Plan

Posters Name: Kagato
Posters Email: kagato@mwgl.org
Subject: Protests To W3C's Patent Plan

News:
I've been reading several articles on the W3C's plan that would allow companies the ability to claim patent rights on standards authorized by the W3C (the GIF and MP3 wars come to mind). C|Net has an article posted discussing the issue, here's a snip:

The W3C works with developers, software makers and others to come up with standards for the Web, which can then be used by just about anyone to build Web software, free of charge. To date, those standards have either not been based on patented technology, or the holders of patents have chosen to not enforce patents in order that the standards be widely adopted.

But a new proposal may now open a few cracks in that wall, allowing companies to enforce patents based around those technologies and to potentially charge a royalty fee to developers who use them.