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The writer seems to think that an open standard must be free of cost but is that actually true? Or is it just what many would like to be true?
by PontusVull 16y ago
The writer seems to think that an open standard must be free of cost but is that actually true? Or is it just what many would like to be true?
- ZeroGravitas 16y agoMost standards, up until the turn of the century, were required by governments to have RAND licensing terms in order to prevent abuse of market power. That's Reasonable And Non-Discriminatory, so you could charge fees but couldn't mess with competitors. Governments are now pushing for Open Standards which must be RAND-Z or RAND-RF. Z stands for Zero cost, RF for Royalty Free. These Open Standards make much more sense for software or services delivered at low or no cost via the web, or as Free or Open Source software.