Re: Please Help Pass W3C Patent Policy
Bruce,
Numerous people have posted to the slashdot discussion comments that complain
that the W3C comment submission software is rejecting their comments because
clicking the validation link in the confirmation email doesn't work. It
appears to be a bug in the W3C's mail server software. You should look into
that, and perhaps try to get the comment period extended so people can resubmit
their comments.
I thought some about the license workaround that you say Eben Moglen suggested,
and I don't think it's workable. The allowance for linking to libraries that
have other licenses that are GPL compatible is meant for allowing GPL'ed code
to draw upon non-GPL'ed work.
Your workaround doesn't address the case where the new code was created
specifically for the purpose of making an existing GPL'ed work compliant with a
web standard.
There is an accellerated plain-file-only accellerated HTTP server in the Linux
kernel for example. Suppose I wanted to upgrade the Linux kernel's HTTP server
to support some new standard, wrote the code in compliance with the W3C's
patent policies, but licensed my modification to the Linux kernel with the MIT
license instead of the GPL. If I distributed my work, even with source, I
would be in violation of the kernel's GPL and ever kernel developer would have
standing to sue me because I didn't license my addition to the kernel with the GPL.
Regards,
Mike
--
Michael D. Crawford
GoingWare Inc. - Expert Software Development and Consulting
http://www.goingware.com/
crawford@goingware.com
Tilting at Windmills for a Better Tomorrow.
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