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107 lines
5.7 KiB
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<html newsdate="2016-04-28">
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<version>1</version>
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<head>
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<title>EU jeopardises its own goals in standardisation with FRAND licensing</title>
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<body>
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<h1>EU jeopardises its own goals in standardisation with FRAND licensing</h1>
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<p>On 19 April, the European Commission published a communication on <a
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href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/communication-ict-standardisation-priorities-digital-single-market">"ICT
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Standardisation Priorities for the Digital Single Market"</a> (hereinafter 'the
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Communication'). The <a
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href="https://download.fsfe.org/policy/letters/20151029-fsfe-dsm-comments.pdf">Digital
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Single Market (DSM) strategy</a> intends to digitise industries with several
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legislative and political initiatives, and the Communication is a part of it
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covering standardisation. In general, the Free Software Foundation Europe
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(FSFE) welcomes the Communication's plausible approach for integrating Free
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Software and <a href="/freesoftware/standards/">Open Standards</a> into standardisation
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but expresses its concerns about the lack of understanding of necessary
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prerequisites to pursue that direction.</p>
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<h2>Acknowledging the importance of Free Software</h2>
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<p>The Communication starts with acknowledging the importance of Open Standards
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for interoperability, innovation and access to media, cultural and educational
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content, and promotes "community building, attracting new sectors, promoting
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open standards and platforms where needed, strengthening the link between
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research and standardisation". The latter is closely linked to the "cloud",
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where the Communication states that the "proprietary solutions, purely national
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approaches and standards that limit interoperability can severely hamper the
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potential of the Digital Single Market", and highlights that "common open
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standards will help users access new innovative services".</p>
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<p>As a result, the Commission concludes that by the end of 2016 it intends to
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make more use of Free Software elements by better integrating Free Software
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communities into standard setting processes in the standards developing
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organisations.</p>
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<p>In the Internet of Things (IoT) domain, the Communication acknowledges the
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EU need for "an open platform approach that supports multiple application
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domains ... to create competitive IoT ecosystems". In this regard, the
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Commission states that "this requires open standards that support the entire
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value chain, integrating multiple technologies ... based on streamlined
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international cooperation that build on an IPR ["intellectual property rights"]
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framework enabling easy and fair access to standard essential patents
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(SEPs)".</p>
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<p>FSFE welcomes this direction taken in the Communication, as well as the
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Commissioner <a
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href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/2014-2019/oettinger/announcements/keynote-speech-closing-plenary-session-net-futures-2016-brussels_en">Günther
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Oettinger's position, highlighted in his keynote at the Net Futures 2016</a>,
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that "easy reuse of standard and open components accelerates digitisation of
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any business or any industry sector." Furthermore, according to the
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Commissioner Oettinger, Free Software standards "enable transparency and build
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trust."</p>
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<h2>EC putting good efforts at risk</h2>
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<p>However, the attempts of the Commission to promote Open Standards and a more
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balanced approach towards "intellectual property rights" policies in
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standardisation may be seriously hampered by the Commission's stance towards
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FRAND licensing. In particular, the Commission sets the goal to "clarify core
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elements of an equitable, effective and enforceable licensing methodology
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around FRAND principles" which is seen as striking the right balance in
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standardisation and ensuring the "fair and non-discriminatory" access to
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standards. Furthermore, it is a well-known fact that FRAND licensing terms that
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in theory stand for "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory" terms, in
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practice are <a
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href="/freesoftware/standards/why-frand-is-bad-for-free-software.html">incompatible
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with most of Free Software</a>.</p>
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<p>In conclusion, whilst the Communication sets a positive direction towards
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the promotion of Open Standards and the inclusion of Free Software communities
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into the standardisation, this direction may be seriously limited if the
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Commission fails to acknowledge the incompatibility of FRAND licensing terms
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with Free Software licenses. This in return can in practice make a proper Free
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Software implementation of the standard impossible. As a result, the attempts
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of the Commission to achieve truly "digital single market" based on
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interoperability, openness and innovation will not be achieved as the
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significant part of innovative potential found in Free Software will be in
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practice excluded from standardisation.</p>
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<p>In line with <a
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href="https://download.fsfe.org/policy/letters/20151029-fsfe-dsm-comments.pdf">our
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recommendations on the DSM initiative</a> that got well received by the
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Commission, FSFE believes that in order to achieve the adequate integration of
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Free Software communities, and the overall plausible approach towards
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appropriate use of Open Standards the Commission needs to avoid the harmful
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consequences of FRAND licensing to Free Software, and instead pursue the
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promotion of standards that are open, minimalistic and implementable with Free
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Software. These standards will give the substance to the Commission's promises
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to encourage Free Software communities to participate in standardisation.</p>
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</body>
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<tags>
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<tag key="front-page"/>
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<tag key="openstandards">Open Standards</tag>
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<tag key="policy">Policy</tag>
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<tag key="european-commission">European Commission</tag>
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<tag key="digital-single-market">Digital Single Market</tag>
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</tags>
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</html>
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