FW: [chairs] [Fwd: New requirements on Individual Members]

fyi. Please review entire email below.

-Raj

Gavenraj Sodhi, MBA

Computer Associates

Product Manager, eTrust

Mobile: +1 949 350 8808

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Hanna [mailto:shanna@funk.com]
Sent: Thursday, August 05, 2004 8:48 AM
To: OASIS Chairs
Subject: [chairs] [Fwd: New requirements on Individual Members]

Other OASIS chairs,

I suspect you may not be aware of the major changes

in requirements for Individual Members included in

the recent proposed IPR Policy. Individual Membership

would no longer be available to anyone whose IP is

owned by his or her employer (as required by most

employment agreements).

Please review my comments below. Whatever your

opinions on this topic, I encourage you to submit

comments to ipr-member-review@lists.oasis-open.org

before the end of the comment period (September 10).

I also encourage you to inform your TCs of this

proposed change and encourage your members to submit

comments on this or any other aspects of the proposed

revised IPR Policy.

For your reference, the draft IPR Policy is at

http://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/members-only/download.php/7515

and the FAQ is at

http://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/members-only/download.php/7554

Thanks,

Steve Hanna

Co-chair, OASIS PKI TC

-------- Original Message --------

Subject: New requirements on Individual Members

Date: Thu, 05 Aug 2004 11:37:14 -0400

From: Steve Hanna <shanna@funk.com>

To: ipr-member-review@lists.oasis-open.org

The new proposed IPR Policy includes a most

unwelcome and unfortunate change. Here's the text

in the FAQ that describes it:

3.6. Are there changes to the eligibility rules

for Individual members?

Yes. If an individual’s IP is owned by his or her

employer, (as is required by most employment agreements),

he or she will be unable to continue to participate under

the OASIS Individual Membership level.

In my view, this change would be an awful mistake.

Here are three reasons why:

1) Individual Members are among the most enthusiastic

and energetic members of my TC and many others.

2) For many organizations, Individual Membership is

a path to Organizational Membership. They start

by having one Individual Member. Then several

more join and their management sees that OASIS

is important to their business.

3) Making this change would make OASIS less open,

ensuring that only organizations or unemployed

individuals can participate.

The FAQ states that this change is being made "to

ensure that Contributions have clear licensing

obligations and that licenses are available to

implement all OASIS Standards and specifications."

I support this goal but I think it could better

be achieved by requiring Individual Members whose

IP is owned by their employers to have those

employers sign documents agreeing to the

necessary obligations.

Thanks,

Steve Hanna

Co-chair, OASIS PKI TC

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