The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has reacted to a firestorm of criticism about proposed changes that would allow technology companies to highjack Net standards into patented products. This response shows that the W3C at least understands why people are upset, though the explanation is a bit lame.
The best news in this uproar is that the W3C has extended the comment period to October 11. It was originally scheduled to end on Sunday.
Of course, if the W3C committee — dominated by the companies that stand to benefit from this outrageous change — follows standard procedure in these situations, it will thank everyone for their comments and go ahead with the plan. I’m not sure what the public can do to derail this awful proposal, but people should at least try.
Read the comments filed so far and then send your own comments to the W3C.