IETF Patent Licenses are RAND

[Lawrence E. Rosen]

To: The Open Source and Free Software Community

Until my eyes grew dim, I reviewed the long collection of patent
licenses on http://www.ietf.org/ipr.  All I saw were RAND or worse.
While some IETF members may have a preference for RF patent licensing,
clearly that standards organization isn't getting any RF patent licenses
worthy of the name.  

The situation in IETF is far worse than I feared.  The current IETF
patent policy is leading to all-RAND-all-the-time.  

As I understand the GPL, none of the IETF standards that include that
patented technology can be implemented under the GPL because of its
Section 7.  

Any open source projects implementing IETF standards should carefully
review the IETF IPR list to ensure that they have proper patent
licenses.  

Anyone who is concerned that the current IETF patent policy has allowed
this situation to occur should contact IETF and request that
organization to revise its patent policy.  

/Larry Rosen
General counsel, Open Source Initiative
Rosenlaw & Einschlag, a technology law firm
3001 King Ranch Road
Ukiah, CA 95482
707-485-1242 * fax: 707-485-1243
lrosen at rosenlaw.com
www.rosenlaw.com

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