A Step Forward in Specification Licence Terms

The licence terms of interoperability specifications has been a topic on which a great deal of fear, uncertainty and doubt has been spread over the last year or so. The tension between retaining control of a specification and reducing the degree to which divergent unofficial versions fuel the creation of numerous incompatible dialects on the one hand and supporting creative application on the other hand is clear as are the problems caused by slow-moving formal processes to address specification bugs.

A recent announcement by IMS on their intention to pilot a form of Creative Commons licence is, therefore, worthy of applause. The Fundamentalists will point to the “a form of…” in the press release but Realists will recognise a step in the right direction.

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