[OpenID board] IPR Policy and Process Proposal

Drummond Reed drummond.reed at cordance.net
Tue Apr 24 01:04:54 UTC 2007


Johannes,

 

Though I too wish it could be simpler, I disagree that it can be, or that
what Gabe et al have crafted is too complex. The problem we are tackling
here - and which I believe Gabe is providing great leadership in helping us
solve - is how we have as lightweight a process as possible for something
that will *have the effect* of becoming a defacto Internet standard. I think
we want this to be where OpenID is headed, and the direct involvement of
Microsoft, AOL, and others in the OpenID specs will put a big exclamation
point on it.

 

So what Gabe (and David and I and Mike Jones and Ron Moore and others) are
trying to wrought is essentially an open community process that achieves
nearly the same IPR protections/confidence as an SDO - without all the rest
of the overhead of an SDO.

 

That's a massive feat, given how much work has gone into the IPR
policies/procedures of SDOs like IETF, W3C, and OASIS. In fact I'd go so far
as to say we're creating the "Open Specification Process" that matches
Microsoft's "Open Specification Promise".

 

Personally, I think that's a fantastic goal, and I think its incumbent upon
us as the inaugural OpenID Foundation board to try our hardest to "make it
so" - and if at all possible, to take advantage of the existing momentum and
do it by IIW.

 

To reach that, I'd encourage us to:

 

* Read and comment directly on the following wiki pages:

 

            http://openid.net/wiki/index.php/Formal_IPR_Policy 

            http://openid.net/wiki/index.php/Formal_Process 

            http://openid.net/wiki/index.php/Spec_Scope_Definitions

 

* Agree ASAP whether we can surface discussion on all of this to the General
list.

 

* Actively discuss the open issues on all three pages on this list as
necessary.

 

* Schedule a special board call on this topic within the next 2 weeks.

 

That's the only way I think we have of closing on this prior to IIW.

 

=Drummond 

 

  _____  

From: board-bounces at openid.net [mailto:board-bounces at openid.net] On Behalf
Of Johannes Ernst
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2007 12:25 PM
To: board at openid.net
Subject: Re: [OpenID board] IPR Policy and Process Proposal

 

This is quite complex. Is there a way to simplify and shorten substantially?

 

[I just read both policy proposal and process proposal, and in spite of
having read previous drafts and having an interest in the subject, I suspect
I'd have to spend several more hours to actually understand what all of this
means. The problem is not that I need to take the time, but that such a time
requirement will act as a rather effective barrier for new people to get
involved in OpenID or feeling comfortable about what they are getting
themselves into, something I'd like to avoid if can ...]

 

 

 

Johannes Ernst

NetMesh Inc.

 


 <http://netmesh.info/jernst> http://netmesh.info/jernst



 

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