--On Tuesday, February 20, 2018 07:44 -0500 Spencer Dawkins at
IETF <spencerdawkins.ietf@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> At least from my point of view, part of the problem is that
>> while the IETF has been paying very careful attention to
>> intellectual property issues, there has been too little
>> concern about that appearance of conflicts of interest,
>> concentration of decision-making in particular industry
>> actors, and antitrust and competitiveness issues.
>
>
> On "antitrust and competitiveness issues", I don't attend IEEE
> 802 meetings regularly, but I can't remember attending one
> that didn't start out with a slide showing an antitrust
> equivalent of the IETF Note Well that covers IPR.
>
> I wouldn't call putting up one slide "solving a problem", but
> I would think that IEEE 802 is better positioned to say "but
> we do take a stand against anti-competitive actions" if anyone
> complains, than the IETF is.
>
> For what that's worth.
Unless things have changed since I dropped out of the
IT-relevatn oversight body, I think you would find that every
ANSI-accredited SDO is sensitive about that area even though
they may manifest the sensitivity in different ways. In this
particular area, we are the exception. Often we like that, but
the contrast may actually increase the risk... "IEEE 802, and
IEEE, are better positioned" can easily morph into "all of those
other standards bodies are aware of the problem and care about
it while IETF deliberately ignores it and opens itself up to
abuses". Whether that is true or not, it is dangerous.
best,
john
