[Upd-discuss] FEES FOR STANDARDS: WHAT'S NEXT?!

[John Brandt]

Many of you may already be aware of this, but there hasn't been any activity
on the upd-discuss list about it.  So just in case some of you were unaware,
I'm excerpting an item from an IT industry newsletter I receive.

----- Original Message -----
From: ClubTech Industry Observer
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2003 9:02
Subject: Club Tech Industry Observer -- September 23, 2003

>
>The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is debating a
>proposal that calls for royalties on three commonly used standards: the ISO
>codes for countries, currencies, and languages. IT industry groups, such as
>the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) have voiced opposition to the proposal
>and expressed concern that, if the proposal is passed, it will erode the
>firmly established standards for these ISO codes. In an industry where
>standards are difficult to establish and are frequently bent and broken,
the
>ISO standards for country, currency, and language, as well as other ISO
>standards -- for example, date formats -- have gained widespread
acceptance.
>But if royalties are required for every product that uses ISO standards,
>software vendors may abandon the standards. Such a move by the ISO could
>also have a negative effect on overall standards adherence because
>developers may feel more confident using their own codes rather than those
>established by a third-party organization. Just imagine the havoc that
would
>result if the United States Postal Service charged royalties for the use of
>standardized state abbreviations or zip codes.
>
>            An overview of the ISO proposal and some of the
>counter-arguments:
>            http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5079256.html
>
>            RELATED LINKS:
>
>            The W3C has sent a letter to the ISO protesting the proposed
>royalties for use of ISO codes:
>
>http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-international/2003JulSep/0213