<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
        {font-family:Helvetica;
        panose-1:2 11 6 4 2 2 2 2 2 4;}
@font-face
        {font-family:Tahoma;
        panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
        {margin:0in;
        margin-bottom:.0001pt;
        font-size:12.0pt;
        font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
        {color:blue;
        text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
        {color:blue;
        text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle18
        {mso-style-type:personal-reply;
        font-family:Arial;
        color:navy;}
@page Section1
        {size:8.5in 11.0in;
        margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
        {page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=blue style='word-wrap: break-word;-khtml-nbsp-mode: space;
-khtml-line-break: after-white-space'>
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Johannes-<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I just don’t see how Microsoft or
anyone else on their scale is going to contribute without something much more
rigorous in place than what we have now. Verisign’s participation has
been great, but I don’t think the IPR issue with Verisign is completely
clear to outside parties, or even me! <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>You actually document some issues
yourself, Johannes, in discussions late last year. For example:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><a
href="http://osdir.com/ml/web.openid.specs/2006-12/msg00036.html">http://osdir.com/ml/web.openid.specs/2006-12/msg00036.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>What is too complicated in the current
proposal? It’s much lighter-weight than any standards body I know of, and
yet requires *<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>no new behavior</span></b>* of most
people participating now (those who don’t care about ever asserting IPR
rights). It puts the onus of extra work on those who only want to commit to a
more specific set of licensing, as it should. Simple things simple, complicated
things more complicated. If don’t care about protecting your IPR w/r/t
OpenID, then you do nothing. If you do care, then you have an extra step to do.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>As for the language of the IPR policy
itself, I actually think its fairly straightforward – lawyers will have
to gnaw on it of course (if we don’t get started on that asap, we’ll
never make IIW, to be honest). But I don’t think it’s all that
complicated compared to most IPR agreements I’ve seen. Compare to W3C: <a
href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/">http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/</a>
or OASIS: <a href="http://www.oasis-open.org/who/intellectualproperty.php">http://www.oasis-open.org/who/intellectualproperty.php</a>
or the IETF’s (which I think is getting an overhaul?): <a
href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3979.txt">http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3979.txt</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>We’re not forming a standards body
here, we’re just trying to make the environment “good enough”
to attract a wider set of participants and adopters. Both sides are going to
have to work a little bit in a new way, I think. To put a challenge to you, can
you give examples of grassroots communities outside formal SDO’s adopting
IPR policies that are both acceptable to large IPR-holding organizations as
contributors and as 3<sup>rd</sup> party adopters? We should definitely be
stealing their ideas rather than coming up with our own, but I’m not
finding it… <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>In any case, I’ve added some notes
on a workplan here: <a
href="http://openid.net/wiki/index.php/IPR_%26_Process_Work_Plan">http://openid.net/wiki/index.php/IPR_%26_Process_Work_Plan</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> -Gabe<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div style='border:none;border-left:solid blue 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt'>
<div>
<div class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>
<hr size=2 width="100%" align=center tabindex=-1>
</span></font></div>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
board-bounces@openid.net [mailto:board-bounces@openid.net] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Johannes Ernst<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Monday, April 23, 2007 12:25
PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> board@openid.net<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [OpenID board] IPR
Policy and Process Proposal</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>This is quite complex. Is there a way to simplify and shorten
substantially?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>[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 ...]<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div><span style='border-spacing: 0px 0px;text-align:auto;-khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none;
-apple-text-size-adjust: auto;orphans: 2;widows: 2;word-spacing:0px'><span
style='border-spacing: 0px 0px;text-align:auto;-khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none;
-apple-text-size-adjust: auto;orphans: 2;widows: 2;word-spacing:0px'>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:black'>Johannes Ernst<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:black'>NetMesh Inc.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=1 color=black face=Helvetica><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:Helvetica;color:black'><br>
</span><img border=0 width=16 height=16 id="_x0000_i1025"
src="cid:image001.gif@01C785D1.9247B320"><img border=0 width=36 height=14
id="_x0000_i1026" src="cid:image002.gif@01C785D1.9247B320"><span
class=apple-style-span><span style='border-spacing: 0px 0px;text-align:auto;
-khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none;-apple-text-size-adjust: auto;
orphans: 2;widows: 2;word-spacing:0px'><a href="http://netmesh.info/jernst"><span
style='border-spacing: 0px 0px;text-align:auto;-khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none;
-apple-text-size-adjust: auto;orphans: 2;widows: 2;word-spacing:0px'>http://netmesh.info/jernst</a></span><br>
<br>
</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
</span></span></span>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>