[LINK]

[geert]

From: <hartr@redhat.com>
To: "Link discussion group" <link@www.anu.edu.au>
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001 11:48 AM
Subject: [LINK]

> Can anyone comment on this? I had not heard about this before...

No, neither did I.

I went to the w3c site and couldn't make out if the patent policy framework
proposed here has any relation to  content or if it is only related to
software/web standards. Freelance content producers who work on the Net
who(like me) would hughly benefit from a fee standard. Now you're almost
certainly condemned to give away your content for free. Online payment
systems are expensive and unsecure. With the media industry withdrawing from
web it is becoming harder and harder to sell your stuff. I think that those
worried about free software should take the legitimate concerns of those who
finally wanna get paid for their work into account and build a coalition
instead just screaming free free free. Most of the free software developers
already have a paid job and it's time that they study the concerns of others
(designers, writers, etc.) who are not into programming. The whole dotcom
craze was based on giving away your content free and in most cases this was
a no-choice situation and I glad that this period is finally over.

Geert