[iai-discuss] definition of open standard
Rufus Pollock
rufus.pollock at okfn.org
Tue Feb 15 11:08:51 PST 2005
From http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/document/3473
EC approved definition of an open standard:
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USE OF OPEN STANDARDS To attain interoperability in the context of
pan-European eGovernment services, guidance needs to focus on open
standards17. The following are the minimal characteristics that a
specification and its attendant documents must have in order to be
considered an open standard:
- The standard is adopted and will be maintained by a not-for-profit
organisation, and its ongoing development occurs on the basis of an open
decision-making procedure available to all interested parties (consensus
or majority decision etc.).
- The standard has been published and the standard specification
document is available either freely or at a nominal charge. It must be
permissible to all to copy, distribute and use it for no fee or at a
nominal fee.
- The intellectual property - i.e. patents possibly present - of (parts
of) the standard is made irrevocably available on a royalty-free basis.
- There are no constraints on the re-use of the standard.
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