Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

W3C Chastises Apple On HTML5 Patenting

Posted by Soulskill on from the play-nice-with-the-other-children dept.

angry tapir writes "The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) is seeking to invalidate a pair of Apple patents so the underlying technologies can be used as part of a royalty-free HTML5 stack. The patented technologies are core components to the W3C's Widget Access Request Policy, which specifies how mobile applications can request sensitive material. It is one of a number of specifications that are closely tied to the W3C's next generation standard for Web pages and applications, HTML5."

4 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. Time to change Bill's 'Borg' icon by MetalliQaZ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...to a Borgified Steve Jobs.

    --
    "Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
    1. Re:Time to change Bill's 'Borg' icon by mandark1967 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Piss Off.

      Signed,

      Steve Jobs

      (sent from my iPhone)

      --
      Sig Follows: "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain
  2. Good! by houstonbofh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    About time one of the bodies stood up to a member trying to turn it into a money tap. Should have started with rambus.

    1. Re:Good! by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

      About time one of the bodies stood up to a member trying to turn it into a money tap. Should have started with rambus.

      Agreed, I think part of actually sitting on these committees and the like should be a "no submarine patent" clause, and a rule that says that since this stuff is meant to be open, it it inherently something which can't be patented.

      Sitting in on the development of a standard and then patenting those components is dirty pool. Same, likewise, is the old MS trick of helping to develop the spec and then releasing something which is 'mostly' like the spec so you can have it be proprietary.

      Sadly, in an age where patents are used to fight your competitors, actual open standards don't seem to be something companies are interested in fostering.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.