EFFector Vol. 14, No. 29 Oct. 4, 2001 editors@eff.org
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424
In the 189th Issue of EFFector (now with over 29,300 subscribers!):
* ALERT: Extended Deadline for Public Comment on Patent Policy for
WWW Standards
* BayFF: Find Out How Bush's Anti-Terrorism Legislation Affects our
Civil Liberties
* Nov. Date Set for COPA Hearing in Supreme Court
* San Francisco Supervisors Pass First Municipal Anti-Blocking
Ordinance
* Update on Dmitry Sklyarov Case
* EFF Seeks Media Intern
* Administrivia
For more information on EFF activities & alerts: http://www.eff.org/
To join EFF or make an additional donation:
http://www.eff.org/support/
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Extended Deadline for Public Comment on Patent Policy for WWW Standards
Web Technology Patents Could Exclude Non-Commercial Implementations
Electronic Frontier Foundation ACTION ALERT
(Issued: October 4, 2001 / Deadline: October 11, 2001)
Introduction:
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is currently considering a
controversial new policy on the treatment of patent claims in the web
standards process. The W3C has extended its deadline for public
comments on the policy to Thursday, October 11. The policy, and the
comments received, will be discussed at a W3C meeting on Monday,
October 15.
The proposed change would establish, for the first time, a specific
W3C policy on patents. Unfortunately, this policy, advocated by large
patent-holding members of the Consortium, allows some web standards to
require licensing fees for implementation. EFF urges the public to
examine and comment on this policy.
EFF urges interested members of the public to submit their comments on
the draft by writing to
www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org
(Your address and comments will be archived and visible to the
public.)
Because the details of the proposed policy are rather intricate, EFF
encourages you to read carefully the policy draft, as well as the
associated W3C FAQ documents. These documents clear up some common
misconceptions -- for example, some commentators mistakenly thought
that ALL W3C technologies would require license fees under the
proposed policy. (W3C itself holds no patents on web technologies, and
is not planning to charge a fee for use of the web.)
What YOU Can Do Now:
Email your comments to the W3C's Patent Policy Working group today.
Feel free to use the EFF's sample letter below as a starting point for
your comments. Let the W3C know that you are concerned about the
impact of patents on the users of web standards. Please be polite and
concise, but firm.
Sample Letter:
You can use this sample letter to the World Wide Web Consortium as a
starting point for your own comments:
World Wide Web Consortium
Patent Policy Working Group
www-patentpolicy-comment@w3.org
Dear W3C Patent Policy Working Group:
I'm concerned about the recent Patent Policy Framework draft, which
could allow W3C members to charge royalty fees for technologies
included in web standards.
In particular, I object to the inclusion of a "reasonable and
non-discriminatory" (RAND) licensing option in the proposed policy.
I believe that the exclusive use of a "royalty-free" (RF) licensing
model is in the best interests of the Internet community, and that
RAND licensing would always necessarily exclude some would-be
implementors, especially among open source and free software
developers.
I applaud the W3C for its tradition of providing open-source
reference implementations and its work to promote a wide variety of
interoperable implementations of its open standards. The W3C can
best continue its work of "leading the Web to its full potential"
by continuing this tradition, and saying no to RAND licensing.
Sincerely,
[Your name & address]
Background:
The World Wide Web Consortium (http://www.w3.org/), founded in 1994 by
WWW inventor Tim Berners-Lee, is a membership-based organization which
makes recommendations on technology standards for the web. Some of its
standardization work has included HTML, HTTP, PNG, and XML;
W3C-recommended technologies have frequently had a far-reaching
impact.
W3C did not have a published patent policy in the past; this change
would create such a policy for the first time. However, W3C has never
before knowingly promoted standards which are encumbered by patents;
this policy would provide a way for W3C to recommend certain
technologies as web standards even when those technologies are known
to be encumbered.
The proposed policy permits new W3C working groups (committees which
are chartered to create standards) to allow participating companies to
reserve the right to charge royalty fees for licensing patents
relating to new standards. Working groups would be expected to
announce, at the time they are created, whether or not patent holders
expected to receive licensing fees.
If a working group decided to permit royalties to be charged, the
participating companies would be expected to license relevant patents
under a "Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory" (RAND) license
arrangement. Under a RAND license, each licensee is expected to pay a
pre-determined royalty to the licensor; this fee is supposed to be
small ("reasonable") and the same for each licensee
("non-discriminatory").
However, RAND licensing may still shut out open source/free software,
non-commercial, and smaller commercial software developers. While
large companies can easily pay (and routinely do pay) license fees in
order to implement technology, small developers and those who
distribute software at no charge may find even the most "reasonable"
licensing terms to be a significant barrier.
EFF is concerned that public standards for communications technology
should remain open and usable by everyone, not constrained by
licensing restrictions. The "Royalty-Free" (RF) licensing tradition is
worth defending, and best serves W3C's mission of developing the "full
potential" of the web as an open medium.
For more information on the proposed policy:
Draft "W3C Patent Policy Framework": (This is the controversial
proposed W3C policy on patents in the W3C standards process.)
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-patent-policy-20010816/
Background information from W3C:
http://www.w3.org/2001/08/patentnews
W3C's interim response to recent public comment:
http://www.w3.org/2001/10/patent-response
Adam Warner's criticisms of the policy, and archive of related
information:
http://www.openphd.net/W3C_Patent_Policy/
Analysis and comment from EFF board member John Gilmore:
http://lists.w3.org/
Archives/Public/www-patentpolicy-comment/2001Sep/0736.html
Archive of all public comments received by W3C so far:
http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/www-patentpolicy-comment/
About EFF:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties
organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded
in 1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and
government to support free expression, privacy, and openness in the
information society. EFF is a member-supported organization and
maintains one of the most linked-to Web sites in the world:
http://www.eff.org/
Contact:
Seth Schoen, EFF Staff Technologist
schoen@eff.org
+1 415 436 9333 x107
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Find Out How Bush's Anti-Terrorism Legislation Will Affect Our Civil Liberties
Electronic Frontier Foundation's "BayFF" - Thursday, October 11th
WHAT: "BayFF" Panel Discussion on the new Anti-Terrorism Legislation,
and its effects on civil liberties
WHEN: Thursday, October 11th, 2001 - 6pm PT
WHO: Ann Brick - Staff Attorney, ACLU of Northern California
Cindy Cohn - Legal Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF),
Panel Moderator
Robert Rubin- Legal Director, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of
the SF Bay Area
Kevin Poulsen - Journalist, Security Focus Magazine
Lee Tien - Senior Staff Attorney, Electronic Frontier Foundation
WHERE: San Francisco Public Library
Room: Koret Auditorium
100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 - near Civic Center BART
Station
Tel: 415-557-4400 (for directions only)
For more information contact Katina: (415) 436-9333 x101
katina@eff.org
This event is free and open to the general public. Food and beverages
will be available.
This forum is co-sponsored by the Free Expression Network West
(FEN-West), an alliance of organizations dedicated to protecting the
First Amendment right of free expression and the values it represents.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties
organization working to protect rights in the digital world. For more
information, please see EFF's website ( http://www.eff.org ), or
contact:
Katina Bishop
EFF Director of Education and Offline Activism
+1-415-436-9333 x101
katina@eff.org
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Nov. Date Set for COPA Hearing in Supreme Court
Caes to Move Forward Months Ahead of Schedule
The US Supreme Court has set a date and time, November 28, 2001, 10am
ET, for oral argument in the ACLU, EFF, et al., legal challenge to the
Child Online Protection Act (COPA, or "CDA-2"). The case is officially
known as ACLU v. Ashcroft (formerly ACLU v. Reno II). This hearing was
originally not expected until early 2002.
Plaintiffs' brief in the case, submitted September 20, 2001, claims
the statute is unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The brief
is available online at:
http://www.aclu.org/court/ashcroft3.pdf
Six powerfully written amici curiae briefs filed in support of
plaintiffs by a wide range of organizations, from the US Chamber of
Commerce to Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, are now becoming available
from links at bottom of the ACLU press release at:
http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n092001d.html
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San Francisco Supervisors Pass First Municipal Anti-Blocking Ordinance
On October 1, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors became the first
municipal legislative body in the world to pass an ordinance
prohibiting the use of Internet blocking software, also known as
filtering software or censorware, on Internet access terminals
administered by the City and County of San Francisco. The city
recognized in the ordinance that Internet blocking software products
"regularly block access to useful and constitutionally protected
information."
Although passed with an amendment excluding terminals the city
designates exclusively or primarily for individuals under the age of
13 from the prohibition on Internet blocking software, the ordinance
demonstrates San Francisco city government's strong support for the
earlier decision of the San Francisco Public Library system to reject
approximately $20,000 in funding tied to federal Internet blocking
requirements.
San Francisco Supervisor Mark Leno proposed the ordinance, which was
supported by Susan Hildreth, San Francisco City Librarian.
EFF Online Activist Will Doherty testified in favor of the ordinance
at a hearing before the Rules Committee of the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors.
A copy of the ordinance is available on the EFF website at:
http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Censorware/Foreign_and_local/CA/
20011001_sf_censorware_law.html
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Update on Dmitry Sklyarov Case
This is a very brief update on the Dmitry Sklarov case. At the hearing
on September 24, the following happened:
1) Joe Burton became the defense attorney for Elcomsoft and dropped
representation for Dmitry Sklyarov.
2) John Keker, a well-known attorney from the San Francisco firm Keker
and Van Nest, became the new defense attorney for Dmitry Sklyarov.
3) The court agreed to a next hearing date of November 26 at which
time the schedule will be set for motions in the trial.
In the meantime, the discovery process of the trial is ongoing.
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EFF Seeks Media Intern
The Electronic Frontier Foundation seeks a Media intern to focus on
media tasks such as media interview assignments, media releases, media
professional relationships, and mediabase and media coverage archival.
Basic HTML skills and general computer competence helpful. Very
helpful if you have your own laptop and/or home Internet access.
Interns will be in the San Francisco Bay Area, and in the EFF office
at least two days per week. School credit may be available.
Timeframe: Needed immediately, for each semester. Minimum commitment 2
days per week for at least three months.
For more information, see the EFF website at:
http://www.eff.org/jobs#vol0
Or contact Will Doherty, Online Activist / Media Relations,
media-inters@eff.org
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EFF Thanks Aspen Legal Media
EFF extends its gratitude to Matt Gallaway, Legal Editor at Aspen
Legal Media, for arranging the donation of Prof. Paul Goldstein's 4
volume Copyright Law treatise.
Aspen Law & Business is an imprint of Aspen Publishers, Inc., which
for more than 40 years has served the needs of legal, business, and
health care professionals with timely books, periodicals, and
information services by leading authorities. Today, Aspen publishes
more than 400 journals, newsletters, electronic products, and
looseleaf reference manuals and has more than 1,000 books in print.
http://www.aspenpublishers.com/
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Administrivia
EFFector is published by:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
454 Shotwell Street
San Francisco CA 94110-1914 USA
+1 415 436 9333 (voice)
+1 415 436 9993 (fax)
http://www.eff.org/
Editors:
Katina Bishop, EFF Education & Offline Activism Director
Stanton McCandlish, EFF Technical Director/Webmaster
editors@eff.org
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