Dear IETF members, It's been more than a decade that I know and respect the IETF. During all those years, I've implemented lots of the standards, always reading the RFCs and paying close attention to the details, and was never afraid of patents or copyright. Actually, the IETF was the last place I would expect to have raised those fears in me. Now, I won't spend your time writing about why inserting patented technology to IETF standards is a bad thing, you already know it better than me. I'm just writing to let you know that we, the developers, and ultimately the community (who will use our software) do care about what they use. We don't want patent creeping up late when our supposedly free software makes a big success. And because it's at the base (protocols), a fork wouldn't make any difference in this case. I can see only one reason to accept such patented protocols, usage. The argument that "it's widely used today" is strong enough to be accepted as a "common" protocol, but the fact that it's patented is even stronger to stop this nonsense. The consequences are far too problematic and unforeseeable. If the usage argument is enough, then why not adopt Microsoft Windows as an OS standard? Or Skype VoIP protocol? Because it doesn't make any sense. I do hope that you come to the consensus of rejecting that offer, especially because there are other good and open alternatives also in wide use. best, --renato Reclaim your digital rights, eliminate DRM, learn more at http://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm _______________________________________________ Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf