A while back, IMS CEO Rob Abel was kind enough to comment on my post regarding the potential impact of patents on educational technology standards. As part of his summary at the end of the comment, he wrote,
It’s difficult for Blackboard or any other vendor to “game” the standards process in IMS due to our IP policies. So, in fact the standards organizations are a great way to bring issues like this out so they can be known – and, in the case of standards, potentially go in a different direction if one organization’s IP is encumbering. The standards become the known ground that vendors must share without claims.
While I appreciate Mr. Abel’s effort in sharing his thoughts, and while I am glad to hear his optimism, I’m afraid that recent history with technology patents shows that it is not so easy for standards bodies to protect themselves from abuse by aggressive patent holders. (more…)