On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 06:48:04 +0000, Steve Harris <s.w.harris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > On Mon, Nov 01, 2004 at 05:43:15 -0800, Mark Knecht wrote: > > IEEE standards (1394, 802.11) - open standard - Discussed in open. > > Decisions made by vote of working group members through voting. > > Committee rules prohibit 'loading' by individual companies. (At the > > discretion of the committee chairman.) Working group participation > > open to pretty much anyone willing to attend the meetings. > > Thats true, but you could view Linux in the same light, all it takes is to > participate in kernel developement, admittedly it can take some time to > be accepted, but its still open by one view. As a couterpoint, the > joining and travel costs for W3C membership (I'm not familiar with the > IEEE's workings) essentailly put it out of the reach of small companies or > individuals, though it is theoretically open. > > - Steve > I'm sorry that W3C membership is an issue. I don't know much about htheir workings. IEEE membership is about $100 IIRC. Meetings take place where the group votes to have them. Voting rights in the group are based on attendance. If you have attended 2 of the last 3 meetings (including the one you are sitting in at the time) then you are allowed to vote. Therefore meetings could go back and forth between the west coast and New York, but if I attended only the west coast meetings I'd still be able to vote. Like many things, it isn't perfect. It depends on voters knowing the subject material. that's a tough subject in California this morning if you got a glance at our initiatives. Dry reading one and all... Take care, Mark
