DSS and effective date of IPR Policy mode transitions

[James Bryce Clark <jamie.clark@oasis-open.org>]

   Hello John.  Obviously any comments from me don't change the 
terms of the OASIS IPR Policy language, which speaks for itself. 
But I'm happy to share our staff understanding of it with you.  The 
policy generally is not designed to have retroactive effects.  Any 
obligations or rights that an OASIS member has regarding a committee 
draft or specification created *before* the committee's TC 
Transition Effective Date [1], and any contributions made before 
that date, are governed by the prior (1999) OASIS Policy [2], not 
the new one.  One becomes bound by the new policy only after that date.
   That effective date occurs after the completion of a successful 
vote and a short waiting period, so members ought to be able to "see 
it coming" and take action as they see fit.

Regards  JBC

~ James Bryce Clark
~ Director of Standards Development, OASIS
~ jamie.clark@oasis-open.org

   [1] http://www.oasis-open.org/who/ipr/ipr_transition_policy.php,
     see section 3(9)
   [2] http://www.oasis-open.org/who/ipr/
     intellectual_property_2000-1-13.php