[IP] Why IP owners should worry]]]]

[Dave Farber <dave@farber.net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Re: [IP] Why IP owners should worry]]]
Date: 	Thu, 24 Nov 2005 19:45:59 -0500
From: 	Jordan Pollack <pollack@cs.brandeis.edu>
To: 	dave@farber.net
References: 	<438622B7.5090105@farber.net>



It it a sad fact of the software industry that maximizing shareholder 
value drives companies towards making locked up formats rather than 
standards which could be eventually approved by Underwriters Lab or the FCC.

The "competitive upgrade" specifically took advantage of companies which 
didn't encrypt their formats; their files could be sucked into a 
competitors release, but not vice versa.

Imagine a world in which Word, Wordperfect, Wordstar, Wordpro and Emacs 
all edited the same standard word processing format. Imagine if all Html 
editors, from Pagemill to Frontpage to Trellix to Dreamweaver could 
interoperate, and all CAD programs could agree on a 3d representational 
format. Then instead of  a single or serial Monopoly in each application 
area, we would have oligarchies like other industries, that might 
continually compete to improve the user interfaces and efficiencies, 
instead of how to lock customers into upgrades and out of their own data.

MA is right to move to open documents, or to force an opening of MSFT 
office.

Jordan

--
Professor Jordan B. Pollack   Dynamic & Evolution Machine Org
Computer Science Department   FaxPhone/Lab: 781-736-2713/3366
MS018,  Brandeis University   http://www.demo.cs.brandeis.edu
Waltham Massachusetts 02454   e-mail: pollack@cs.brandeis.edu



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