They knew that a number of open source developers participate
in both TCs, and they asked for our
input. We pointed out that both TCs have always had the commitment to RF in our charters, so
there was never any question of the IPR
mode for our specifications.
However it became clear to us in this dialog that there was a
very real danger that those
who find issue with RAND
in open standards could "tar all OASIS TCs with the same brush". In other words,
there is a danger that even
specifications from those OASIS TCs who are committed to encouraging Open Source (tm) implementations and
RF-on-limited-terms would become
suspect in the larger community of adopters.
This possibility has us very
concerned.
To be clear, we
personally understand that OASIS needs to offer multiple IPR modes to maintain the scope of its current work
and we do believe that if OASIS
did not provide RAND options, it would
simply force certain work to be done
elsewhere, perhaps in a less-open
manner. However, we are also worried that the if OASIS does not respond to the concerns of
the Open Source community, there may be strong incentive for potential
Open-Source-friendly work to go elsewhere to avoid the controversy and
confusion altogether.
We discussed how we
might address the concerns, and while we aren't going to please everyone, we
did come up with a solution that seems practical and compatible with OASIS
goals and current practice.
Our proposal is to have
appropriate TCs use a prominent label/logo to indicate
that the TC's output is is
"Open Source(tm) Compatible". Any output of this TC would then have to be licensed
in a way which explicitly allows Open Source implementation (which implies RF
terms, among others). This very well might mean tweaking or replacing the new
RF-with-limited-terms license mode.
Since the Open Source community already defines the
meaning of "Open Source", we believe the best way to do move forward would be to engage the
Open Source community (especially the attorneys and the people at the Open
Source Initiative) to:
- determine what such a label/logo might look like and
mean, and
- create or ensure that there
is an OASIS RF license (for patent, copyright, trademark IPR) mode for
TC's that allows Open Source (tm)
implementation.
We suggest this may be a very fruitful avenue for discussion
with the proponents of this letter, and
invite the opinion of other Chairs on this
approach.
Best,
Gabe Wachob, Visa International, Co-Chair, XRI TC
Drummond Reed, Cordance, Co-Chair, XRI & XDI
TCs
Geoffrey Strongin, AMD, Co-Chair, XDI TC
__________________________________________________
gwachob@visa.com
Chief Systems Architect
Technology Strategies and Standards
Visa International
Phone:
+1.650.432.3696 Fax: +1.650.554.6817