RE: [office] How about an interoperability Subcommittee?

["Alex Wang" <alexwang@sursen.com>]

Hi Bruce,
Thanks for your attention to UOML IPR. But I hope you can know more
about UOML itself before you have a judgement.
UOML is similiar to SQL, the difference is that SQL deals with
structured information while UOML deals with unstructured inforamtion.
Therefore, we can compare UOML to Java specification, docbase system vs.
VM, UOML application vs. Java application.

Secondly, Sun has opened up Java recently, not 10 years ago, this fact
is the best evidence of the necessary of "balance".
We need balance in IPR policy. We are living in commercial industry, not
communist society. If Sun can't get income directly of indirectly from
Java, who pay for the 4,000 engineers working for Java in Sun? Without
the contribution of these enineers, Java is something on paper,
Microsoft acquires customers.

Regarding HTML, if someone charges for HTML browser's income only, i.e.
if and only if MS, Netscape, Firefox get income from their browser, the
inventer of HTML will charge a fixed percentage from their income, do
you think it will hurt internet?

-Alex

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce D'Arcus [mailto:bruce.darcus@OpenDocument.us] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2007 9:15 PM
To: OASIS Office
Subject: Re: [office] How about an interoperability Subcommittee?


On May 8, 2007, at 8:59 AM, Alex Wang wrote:

> I tried to use the example of Java to explain what "balance" means. 
> Sun kept some IPR of Java ten years ago, give up some of them today, 
> it is the "balance". Yes, Sun want to create a market by Java, but I 
> don't think this is the reason that you have very little sympathy for 
> Sun. I respect Sun, J2EE is more popular than .NET, while Windows, IE,

> MS Office becomes the owner of the world.
>
> I was told "share everything", "free for everything"  ever since I was

> born. I am a Chinese, this is the Communist Party's education. This 
> kind of education still exists in North Korea, and now in OASIS. We 
> treat IPR
> in extremeness attitude, thus a commercial topic becomes a politics
> topic. I don't think it is a good manner.

With all due respect Alex:

1) you are comparing apples (programming language, VM, etc.) and 
oranges (standards)

2) Sun has opened up Java recently

So your argument isn't really supported by either logic or 
on-the-ground facts.

It's not surprising that many people who are a part of standards work 
are very suspicious of attaching restrictions to its use (building 
proprietary tools or applications based on those standards is an 
entirely different matter). You cannot talk about "balance" and "99%" 
when talking about standards, and to say as much is hardly "extremism"; 
it's the entire basis on which our internet-based information economy 
works. If XML and HTML were released under RAND, there would be no 
internet as we know it, nor would ODF exist.

Bruce