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diff --git a/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/w3c-patent.html b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/w3c-patent.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0edae8c --- /dev/null +++ b/talermerchantdemos/blog/articles/en/w3c-patent.html @@ -0,0 +1,132 @@ +<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> +<!-- Parent-Version: 1.77 --> + +<title>FSF's Position on W3 Consortium “Royalty-Free” Patent +Policy - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> +<meta http-equiv="Keywords" + content="GNU, FSF, Free Software Foundation, Linux, patent, general, public, license, gpl, general public license, policy, freedom, software, Eben, Moglen, Eben Moglen" /> +<meta http-equiv="Description" + content="The W3C RF patent policy seems on its surface to be helpful to Free Software, but in fact it is not. FSF encourages the public to say so in response to the last call." /> + +<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/w3c-patent.translist" --> +<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> + +<h2>FSF's Position on W3 Consortium “Royalty-Free” Patent Policy</h2> +<p style="text-align:center"> +<i>Rewritten 1 June 2003</i> +</p> + +<h3>Our Position</h3> + +<p> +The Free Software Foundation, represented by Professor Moglen of +Columbia University Law School, has participated in the W3 Consortium +Patent Policy Working Group from November 2001 through the present. +The current W3C patent policy, which in most cases requires +“royalty-free” or “RF” patent licenses, is a +significant step in the direction of protecting the World Wide Web +from patent-encumbered standards. But it falls short because a +loophole allows conditions on these patent licenses that would +prohibit free software implementations of the standards.</p> + +<p> +The problem comes from the “field of use” restrictions +that patent holders are allowed to put in their royalty-free patent +licenses. Such restrictions say that you are allowed to practice the +patented idea, but only for implementing the standard precisely as +specified — not in any other way. Thus, if you change the code +to depart from the spec even slightly, the patent license no longer +protects you from against being sued for infringing the patent.</p> + +<p> +The W3C has policies to reject some kinds of “field of +use” restrictions. For instance, it won't allow a patent +license to be limited to a certain kind of software or a certain kind +of platform. (We were informed of this in 2012.) However, that still +allows other kinds of restrictions that can cause a problem.</p> + +<p> +One requirement for Free Software is that users have the freedom to +modify and redistribute it. But we can hardly consider that users +have freedom to publish modified versions of the program if, for a +part of the program's behavior, modification is prohibited. Thus, +these “field of use” restrictions would prevent +implementation of W3C standards as <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html"> +Free Software</a>.</p> + +<p> +“Field of use” restrictions are also legally incompatible +with section 7 of the <a href="/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html">GNU +General Public License (version 2)</a>, since it does not allow the user's +freedom to modify to be shrunk to zero in this way.</p> + +<p> +Many other Free Software licenses have no provisions equivalent to the +GPL's Section 7, but you can't solve the problem merely by using one +of those licenses. Section 7 is intended to prevent the imposition of +side restrictions (for instance, by patent licenses) which would deny +the freedoms that the GPL itself gives you. If the software license +does nothing to prevent this, you can find yourself in a situation +where the program's license appears to give you freedom, but this +freedom has been taken away by restrictions not stated there.</p> + +<p> +Freedom to modify software can always be limited by third-party +patents in ways that the software copyright license doesn't disclose. +This is why software patents are <a href="http://www.ffii.org/">so +dangerous to software freedom</a>.</p> + +<p>The FSF plans to continue to participate in the implementation +process. We will try to convince patent-holders not to impose +“field of use” restrictions, and we encourage all those +who care about the right of Free Software developers to implement all +future web standards to do the same.</p> + +</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --> + +<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> +<div id="footer"> +<div class="unprintable"> + +<p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to +<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. +There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> +the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent +to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> + +<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, + replace it with the translation of these two: + + We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality + translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. + Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard + to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> + <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> + + <p>For information on coordinating and submitting translations of + our web pages, see <a + href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations + README</a>. --> +Please see the <a +href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations +README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations +of this article.</p> +</div> + +<p>Copyright © 2002, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.</p> + +<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license" +href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/us/">Creative +Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License</a>.</p> + +<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" --> + +<p class="unprintable">Updated: +<!-- timestamp start --> +$Date: 2014/08/21 15:01:29 $ +<!-- timestamp end --> +</p> +</div> +</div> +</body> +</html> |