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When Should File Formats Be Placed in the Public Domain?

Posted by michael on from the trick-question dept.

wccwcc writes "A lot has been said about file formats and standards creating network effects and huge profits. That said, is there a time when file formats should enter the public domain, or is it ok for companies to sit on them forever. These are some ideas on when and how file formats should enter the public domain, just like trademarks do when they become "generic"."

3 of 290 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Standards by JKR · · Score: 5, Informative
    Arguably, Sorenson is a codec, not a format - Quicktime is a format, just as MS AVI is a format and Windows Media 8 is a codec. Some other file types are more difficult to classify, but MS stuff in particular seems to adhere to this sort of division - consider WAV files, for example. The RIFF format coverns how the data is stored, but says nothing about the actual data - that can be MP3, uLaw, OGG...

    I think it's helpful to make this distinction because the formats can easily be made public domain, whereas the codecs are usually subject to patents and/or require licensing.

    File interchange becomes much simpler if you stop worrying about codecs, and concentrate on supporting formats - Linux tools for video could read & write the AVI format (just interleaved RIFF chunks) but either use a free codec, or none at all, without creating yet another video file standard.

    MS Word is a different problem - although RTF is the preferred interchange format anyway. Certainly my partner (who occasionally works as a freelance proof-reader) uses RTF extensively with her clients instead of Word native format. The RTF v1.6 spec. is available in the MSDN, and includes sample reader & writer source code.

    Jon.

  2. Re: No, no, no..... by Speare · · Score: 5, Informative

    The very idea of "forcibly placing" ones work into the "public domain by law" is quite distasteful.

    Um, that's exactly what a patent is, and does. You document your method in detail for all to see, and in exchange, you can decide who uses the method for a limited amount of time. After the patent expires, potentially everyone benefits from your documentation freely.

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  3. Re:When public domain file formats should be used by fmaxwell · · Score: 4, Informative

    The idea here is that we do not want to dictate the software used, but we want to ensure that whatever software is used, OTHER software is free to interoperate with it, including open source software. By levelling the playing field through open file formats, open source software would actually be able to compete without all the belly aching you hear about "not being able to read and write Office formats" and the such.

    Bravo. Your summary of my implied position was excellent.

    And I will add one more thought:

    By requiring open file formats, our government would be much less likely to find itself with files that are unreadable in ten years.