I suspect the non-standard JSON license was in part a strategy to encourage third-party implementations, so that the format would become a standard. (W3C stand

I suspect the non-standard JSON license was in part a strategy to encourage third-party implementations, so that the format would become a standard. (W3C standards, for example, require "multiple independent implementations to proceed along a standardisation path". https://www.w3.org/TR/webdatabase/ https://www.w3.org/TR/webdatabase/ )