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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Open Letter Regarding IETF IP Contribution Policy<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>(Feel free to copy. My apologies in advance for
cross-posting)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I want to let you know about the latest proposal from the
IETF IPR Working Group regarding rights in contributions made to IETF for
Internet standards. See <a href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3978.txt">www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3978.txt</a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>IETF, the most democratic and open of standards
organizations, is proposing a contribution policy that, simply put, may result
in standards that are not truly open for implementation and use in open source
software. This draft policy offers, in section 3.3(a)(E), generous copyright
licenses for contributions, but it expressly omits any patent licenses: <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<pre style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>... (it also being understood that the licenses granted under this paragraph (E) shall not be deemed to grant any right under any patent, patent application or other similar intellectual property right disclosed by the Contributor under [RFC3979]).<o:p></o:p></span></font></pre><pre><font
size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></pre>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The draft policy contains this language because, as one
participant said on the IPR WG discussion list, it should be up to each
individual IETF Working Group to decide whether a standard should be adopted even
though a contributor's necessary patent claims may not be freely available to
actually practice the standard. This is worse in some respects than the "reasonable
and non-discriminatory" policies that the open source community has been
fighting against in other standards organizations. This new policy does not
even promise RAND, much less FREE, patent licenses. This contribution policy
may actually result in standards that can't even be implemented at a reasonable
price by proprietary software companies, let alone by open source projects!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The IETF is a public trust, and the intellectual property
rights in IETF contributions are being given to a 501(c)(3) public benefit
organization for release as Internet standards. I do not believe that IETF working
groups should ever promulgate private standards for the financial benefit of private
patent owners, no matter how wonderful the technology. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>As I said above, IETF is a democratic and open organization.
Many engineers and others in the open source community already participate in
IETF working groups and contribute to this essential commons of open standards
for the Internet. I encourage every IETF contributor to read the proposed IETF
policy and to express your own opinion about whether it should be adopted in
its current form.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>The co-chair of the IETF IPR WG, Harald Alvestrand,
suggested that I take this issue to an open list. He also invites anyone who
wants to participate in this debate and to vote on the proposal to join the
discussion group. (<a href="https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ipr-wg">https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ipr-wg</a>)
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>/Larry Rosen<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Lawrence Rosen</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Rosenlaw & Einschlag, a technology law firm (<a
href="http://www.rosenlaw.com">www.rosenlaw.com</a>)</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Stanford University, Lecturer in Law</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>3001 King Ranch Road, Ukiah, CA 95482</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>707-485-1242 * cell: 707-478-8932 * fax: 707-485-1243</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Skype: LawrenceRosen</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Author of "Open Source Licensing: Software Freedom and </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>
Intellectual Property Law" (Prentice Hall 2004)</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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