The Myth of Free Standards: Giving Away the Farm

Andrew Bank, Vice President, Business Development, Techstreet

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 1998)

"Information" has become the newest buzzword in our fully-integrated Internet culture. With the pervasiveness of personal computers and kids learning how to surf the Web at an increasingly younger age, information is now at your fingertips with just the click of a mouse. As Thomas Jefferson said nearly 200 years ago, information has truly become "the currency of democracy." The free flow of information can facilitate public empowerment, corporate productivity, and greater prosperity and education among a population. However, even Jefferson would not claim that information should be given away for free. In the case of standards information, it should not. If information is the currency of democracy, standards are the bridges that link global trading partners. Standards are a unique type of information and their widespread circulation and incorporation into products and services is essential for eliminating barriers to trade. A growing consensus among standards developers and users contends that making standards available at no cost will further their use and development, thereby strengthening bridges and shrinking barriers to trade. Nevertheless, proponents of free standards are forgetting one important fact: bridges have to be designed, constructed and maintained. Giving standards away free will eliminate the most significant source of funding for standards development. It will also create a greater imbalance of support between contributors and non-contributors (to the development process) and lead to a host of other problems. The cost of standards has become a confounding and contentious issue. This essay seeks to resolve the question of "Standards: Fee or Free?"