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An open standard is a standard that is publicly available and has various rights

to use associated with it, and may also have various properties of how it was d
esigned (e.g. open process). There is no single definition and interpretations v
ary with usage.
The terms "open" and "standard" have a wide range of meanings associated with th
eir usage. There are a number of definitions of open standards which emphasize d
ifferent aspects of openness, including the openness of the resulting specificat
ion, the openness of the drafting process, and the ownership of rights in the st
andard. The term "standard" is sometimes restricted to technologies approved by
formalized committees that are open to participation by all interested parties a
nd operate on a consensus basis.
The definitions of the term "open standard" used by academics, the European Unio
n and some of its member governments or parliaments such as Denmark, France, and
Spain preclude open standards requiring fees for use, as do the New Zealand, So
uth African and the Venezuelan governments. On the standard organisation side, t
he World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) ensures that its specifications can be implem
ented on a royalty-free basis.
Many definitions of the term "standard" permit patent holders to impose "reasona
ble and non-discriminatory licensing" royalty fees and other licensing terms on
implementers and/or users of the standard. For example, the rules for standards
published by the major internationally recognized standards bodies such as the I
ETF, ISO, IEC, and ITU-T permit their standards to contain specifications whose
implementation will require payment of patent licensing fees. Among these organi
zations, only the IETF and ITU-T explicitly refer to their standards as "open st
andards," while the others refer only to producing "standards." The IETF and ITU
-T use definitions of "open standard" that allow "reasonable and non-discriminat
ory" patent licensing fee requirements.
There are those in the open-source software community who hold that an "open sta
ndard" is only open if it can be freely adopted, implemented and extended.[1] Wh
ile open standards or architectures are considered non-proprietary in the sense
that the standard is either un-owned or owned by a collective body it can still
be publicly shared and not tightly guarded.[2] The typical example of open source
that has become a standard is the personal computer originated by IBM and now re
ferred to as Wintel, the combination of the Microsoft operating system and Intel
microprocessor. There are three others that are most widely accepted as open whic
h include the GSM phones (adopted as a government standard), Open Group which pr
omotes UNIX and the like, and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) which c
reated the first standards of SMTP and TCP/IP. Buyers tend to prefer open standa
rds which they believe offer them cheaper products and more choice for access du
e to network effects and increased competition between vendors.[3]
Open standards which specify formats are sometimes referred to as open formats.
Many specifications that are sometimes referred to as standards are proprietary
and only available under restrictive contract terms (if they can be obtained at
all) from the organization that owns the copyright on the specification. As such
these specifications are not considered to be fully Open. Joel West has argued
that "open" standards are not black and white but have many different levels of
"openness". Ultimately a standard needs to be open enough that it will become ad
opted and accepted in the market, but still closed enough that firms can get a r
eturn on their investment in developing the technology around the standard. A mo
re open standard tends to occur when the knowledge of the technology becomes dis
persed enough that competition is increased and others are able to start copying
the technology as they implement it. This occurred with the Wintel architecture
as others were able to start imitating the software. Less open standards exist
when a particular firm has a lot of power (not ownership) over the standard whic

h can occur when a firm s platform


platform most popular.[4]

wins

in standard setting or the market makes one

Contents [hide]
1 Specific definitions of an open standard
1.1 ITU-T definition
1.2 IETF definition
1.3 European Interoperability Framework for Pan-European eGovernment Services
1.4 Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium definition
1.5 Danish government definition
1.6 French law definition
1.7 Indian Government Definition
1.8 Italian Law definition
1.9 Spanish law definition
1.10 Venezuelan law definition
1.11 South African Government definition
1.12 New Zealand official interoperability framework definition
1.13 Bruce Perens' definition
1.14 Microsoft's definition
1.15 Open Source Initiative's definition
1.16 Ken Krechmer's definition
1.17 World Wide Web Consortium's definition
1.18 Digital Standards Organization definition
1.19 Free Software Foundation Europe's definition
1.20 FFII's definition
2 Examples of open standards
2.1 System
2.2 Hardware
2.3 File formats
2.4 Protocols
2.5 Programming languages
2.6 Other
3 Examples of associations
4 Patents
5 Quotes
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
Specific definitions of an open standard[edit]
ITU-T definition[edit]
The ITU-T is a standards development organization (SDO) that is one of the three
sectors of the International Telecommunications Union (a specialized agency of
the United Nations). The ITU-T has a Telecommunication Standardization Bureau di
rector's Ad Hoc group on IPR that produced the following definition in March 200
5, which the ITU-T as a whole has endorsed for its purposes since November 2005:
[5]
The ITU-T has a long history of open standards development. However, recently so
me different external sources have attempted to define the term "Open Standard"
in a variety of different ways. In order to avoid confusion, the ITU-T uses for
its purpose the term "Open Standards" per the following definition:
"Open Standards" are standards made available to the general public and are deve
loped (or approved) and maintained via a collaborative and consensus driven proc
ess. "Open Standards" facilitate interoperability and data exchange among differ
ent products or services and are intended for widespread adoption.
Other elements of "Open Standards" include, but are not limited to:
Collaborative process voluntary and market driven development (or approval) foll
owing a transparent consensus driven process that is reasonably open to all inte
rested parties.

Reasonably balanced
ensures that the process is not dominated by any one interes
t group.
Due process - includes consideration of and response to comments by interested p
arties.
Intellectual property rights (IPRs)
IPRs essential to implement the standard to
be licensed to all applicants on a worldwide, non-discriminatory basis, either (
1) for free and under other reasonable terms and conditions or (2) on reasonable
terms and conditions (which may include monetary compensation). Negotiations ar
e left to the parties concerned and are performed outside the SDO.
Quality and level of detail sufficient to permit the development of a variety of
competing implementations of interoperable products or services. Standardized i
nterfaces are not hidden, or controlled other than by the SDO promulgating the s
tandard.
Publicly available easily available for implementation and use, at a reasonable
price. Publication of the text of a standard by others is permitted only with th
e prior approval of the SDO.
On-going support maintained and supported over a long period of time.
The ITU-T, ITU-R, ISO, and IEC have harmonized on a common patent policy [6] und
er the banner of the WSC. However, the ITU-T definition should not necessarily b
e considered also applicable in ITU-R, ISO and IEC contexts, since the Common Pa
tent Policy [7] does not make any reference to "open standards" but rather only
to "standards."
IETF definition[edit]
In section 7 of its RFC 2026, the IETF classifies specifications that have been
developed in a manner similar to that of the IETF itself as being "open standard
s," and lists the standards produced by ANSI, ISO, IEEE, and ITU-T as examples.
As the IETF standardization processes and IPR policies have the characteristics
listed above by ITU-T, the IETF standards fulfill the ITU-T definition of "open
standards."
However, the IETF has not adopted a specific definition of "open standard"; both
RFC 2026 and the IETF's mission statement (RFC 3935) talks about "open process,
" but RFC 2026 does not define "open standard" except for the purpose of definin
g what documents IETF standards can link to.
RFC 2026 belongs to a set of RFCs collectively known as BCP 9 (Best Common Pract
ice, an IETF policy).[8] RFC 2026 was later updated by BCP 78 and 79 (among othe
rs). As of 2011 BCP 78 is RFC 5378 (Rights Contributors Provide to the IETF Trus
t),[9] and BCP 79 consists of RFC 3979 (Intellectual Property Rights in IETF Tec
hnology) and a clarification in RFC 4879.[10] The changes are intended to be com
patible with the "Simplified BSD License" as stated in the IETF Trust Legal Prov
isions and Copyright FAQ based on RFC 5377.[11]
In August 2012, the IETF combined with the W3C and IEEE to launch OpenStand [12]
and to publish The Modern Paradigm for Standards. This captures "the effective
and efficient standardization processes that have made the Internet and Web the
premiere platforms for innovation and borderless commerce". The declaration is t
hen published in the form of RFC 6852 in January 2013.
European Interoperability Framework for Pan-European eGovernment Services[edit]
The European Union defined the term for use within its European Interoperability
Framework for Pan-European eGovernment Services, Version 1.0[13] although it do
es not claim to be a universal definition for all European Union use and documen
tation.
To reach interoperability in the context of pan-European eGovernment services, g
uidance needs to focus on open standards.
The word "open" is here meant in the sense of fulfilling the following requireme

nts:
The standard is adopted and will be maintained by a not-for-profit organization,
and its ongoing development occurs on the basis of an open decision-making proc
edure available to all interested parties (consensus or majority decision etc.).
The standard has been published and the standard specification document is avail
able 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 st
andard is made irrevocably available on a royalty-free basis.
There are no constraints on the re-use of the standard[14]
Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium definition[edit]
The Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium (NCOIC) defines open standard
as the following:
Specifications for hardware and/or software that are publicly available implying
that multiple vendors can compete directly based on the features and performanc
e of their products. It also implies that the existing open system can be remove
d and replaced with that of another vendor with minimal effort and without major
interruption.[15]
Danish government definition[edit]
The Danish government has attempted to make a definition of open standards,[16]
which also is used in pan-European software development projects. It states:
An open standard is accessible to everyone free of charge (i.e. there is no disc
rimination between users, and no payment or other considerations are required as
a condition of use of the standard)
An open standard of necessity remains accessible and free of charge (i.e. owners
renounce their options, if indeed such exist, to limit access to the standard a
t a later date, for example, by committing themselves to openness during the rem
ainder of a possible patent's life)
An open standard is accessible free of charge and documented in all its details
(i.e. all aspects of the standard are transparent and documented, and both acces
s to and use of the documentation is free)
French law definition[edit]
The French Parliament approved a definition of "open standard" in its "Law for C
onfidence in the Digital Economy."[17] The definition is:[18]
By open standard is understood any communication, interconnection or interchange
protocol, and any interoperable data format whose specifications are public and
without any restriction in their access or implementation.
Indian Government Definition[edit]
A clear Royalty Free stance and far reaching requirements case is the one for In
dia's Government [19]
4.1 Mandatory Characteristics An Identified Standard will qualify as an
dard , if it meets the following criteria:

Open Stan

4.1.1 Specification document of the Identified Standard shall be available with


or without a nominal fee.
4.1.2 The Patent claims necessary to implement the Identified Standard shall be
made available on a Royalty-Free basis for the life time of the Standard.
4.1.3 Identified Standard shall be adopted and maintained by a not-for-profit or
ganization, wherein all stakeholders can opt to participate in a transparent, co
llaborative and consensual manner.
4.1.4 Identified Standard shall be recursively open as far as possible.
4.1.5 Identified Standard shall have technology-neutral specification.
4.1.6 Identified Standard shall be capable of localization support, where applic
able, for all Indian official Languages for all applicable domains.

Italian Law definition[edit]


Italy has a general rule for the entire public sector dealing with Open Standard
s, although concentrating on data formats, in Art. 68 of the Code of the Digital
Administration (Codice dell'Amministrazione Digitale)[20]
[applications must] allow representation of data under different formats, at lea
st one being an open data format.
[...]
[it is defined] an open data format, a data format which is made public, is thor
oughly documented and neutral with regard to the technological tools needed to p
eruse the same data.
Spanish law definition[edit]
A Law passed by the Spanish Parliament [21] requires that all electronic service
s provided by the Spanish public administration must be based on open standards.
It defines an open standard as royalty free, according to the following definit
ion:[18]
An open standard fulfills the following conditions:
it is public, and its use is available on a free [gratis] basis, or at a cost th
at does not imply a difficulty for the user.
its use is not subject to the payment of any intellectual [copyright] or industr
ial [patents and trademarks] property right.
Venezuelan law definition[edit]
The Venezuelan Government approved a "free software and open standards law."[22]
The decree includes the requirement that the Venezuelan public sector must use
free software based on open standards, and includes a definition of open standar
d:[18]
Article 2: for the purposes of this Decree, it shall be understood as
k) Open standards: technical specifications, published and controlled by an orga
nization in charge of their development, that have been accepted by the industry
, available to everybody for their implementation in free software or other [typ
e of software], promoting competitivity, interoperability and flexibility.
South African Government definition[edit]
The South African Government approved a definition in the "Minimum Interoperabil
ity Operating Standards Handbook" (MIOS).[23]
For the purposes of the MIOS, a standard shall be considered open if it meets al
l of these criteria. There are standards which we are obliged to adopt for pragm
atic reasons which do not necessarily fully conform to being open in all respect
s. In such cases, where an open standard does not yet exist, the degree of openn
ess will be taken into account when selecting an appropriate standard:
it should be maintained by a non-commercial organization
participation in the ongoing development work is based on decision making proces
ses that are open to all interested parties.
open access: all may access committee documents, drafts and completed standards
free of cost or for a negligible fee.
It must be possible for everyone to copy, distribute and use the standard free o
f cost.
The intellectual rights required to implement the standard (e.g.essential patent
claims) are irrevocably available, without any royalties attached.
There are no reservations regarding reuse of the standard.
There are multiple implementations of the standard.

New Zealand official interoperability framework definition[edit]


The E-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF) [24] defines open standard a
s royalty free according to the following text:
While a universally agreed definition of "open standards" is unlikely to be reso
lved in the near future, the e-GIF accepts that a definition of open standards nee
ds to recognise a continuum that ranges from closed to open, and encompasses var
ying degrees of "openness." To guide readers in this respect, the e-GIF endorses
"open standards" that exhibit the following properties:
Be accessible to everyone free of charge: no discrimination between users, and n
o payment or other considerations should be required as a condition to use the s
tandard.
Remain accessible to everyone free of charge: owners should renounce their optio
ns, if any, to limit access to the standard at a later date.
Be documented in all its details: all aspects of the standard should be transpar
ent and documented, and both access to and use of the documentation should be fr
ee.
The e-GIF performs the same function in e-government as the Road Code does on th
e highways. Driving would be excessively costly, inefficient, and ineffective if
road rules had to be agreed each time one vehicle encountered another.
Bruce Perens' definition[edit]
One of the most popular definitions of the term "open standard," as measured by
Google ranking, is the one developed by Bruce Perens.[25] His definition lists a
set of principles that he believes must be met by an open standard:
Availability: Open Standards are available for all to read and implement.
Maximize End-User Choice: Open Standards create a fair, competitive market for i
mplementations of the standard. They do not lock the customer into a particular
vendor or group.
No Royalty: Open Standards are free for all to implement, with no royalty or fee
. Certification of compliance by the standards organization may involve a fee.
No Discrimination: Open Standards and the organizations that administer them do
not favor one implementor over another for any reason other than the technical s
tandards compliance of a vendor s implementation. Certification organizations must
provide a path for low and zero-cost implementations to be validated, but may a
lso provide enhanced certification services.
Extension or Subset: Implementations of Open Standards may be extended, or offer
ed in subset form. However, certification organizations may decline to certify s
ubset implementations, and may place requirements upon extensions (see Predatory
Practices).
Predatory Practices: Open Standards may employ license terms that protect agains
t subversion of the standard by embrace-and-extend tactics. The licenses attache
d to the standard may require the publication of reference information for exten
sions, and a license for all others to create, distribute, and sell software tha
t is compatible with the extensions. An Open Standard may not otherwise prohibit
extensions.
Microsoft's definition[edit]
Vijay Kapoor, national technology officer, Microsoft, defines what open standard
s are as follows:[26]
Let's look at what an open standard means: 'open' refers to it being royalty-fre
e, while 'standard' means a technology approved by formalized committees that ar
e open to participation by all interested parties and operate on a consensus bas
is. An open standard is publicly available, and developed, approved and maintain
ed via a collaborative and consensus driven process.
Overall, Microsoft's relationship to open standards is, at best, mixed. While Mi
crosoft participates in the most significant standard-setting organizations that

establish open standards, it is often seen as oppositional to their adoption.[2


7] The model started to shift, however, in 2006 and since the XML standard Micro
soft has been earning a better reputation within the open-source and open-standa
rds community.[27]
Open Source Initiative's definition[edit]
The Open Source Initiative defines the requirements and criteria for open standa
rds as follows:[28]
The Requirement
An "open standard" must not prohibit conforming implementations in open source s
oftware.
The Criteria
To comply with the Open Standards Requirement, an "open standard" must satisfy t
he following criteria. If an "open standard" does not meet these criteria, it wi
ll be discriminating against open source developers.
No Intentional Secrets: The standard MUST NOT withhold any detail necessary for
interoperable implementation. As flaws are inevitable, the standard MUST define
a process for fixing flaws identified during implementation and interoperability
testing and to incorporate said changes into a revised version or superseding v
ersion of the standard to be released under terms that do not violate the OSR.
Availability: The standard MUST be freely and publicly available (e.g., from a s
table web site) under royalty-free terms at reasonable and non-discriminatory co
st.
Patents: All patents essential to implementation of the standard MUST:
be licensed under royalty-free terms for unrestricted use, or
be covered by a promise of non-assertion when practiced by open source software
No Agreements: There MUST NOT be any requirement for execution of a license agre
ement, NDA, grant, click-through, or any other form of paperwork to deploy confo
rming implementations of the standard.
No OSR-Incompatible Dependencies: Implementation of the standard MUST NOT requir
e any other technology that fails to meet the criteria of this Requirement.
Ken Krechmer's definition[edit]
Ken Krechmer[29] identifies ten "rights":
Open Meeting
Consensus
Due Process
Open IPR
One World
Open Change
Open Documents
Open Interface
Open Use
On-going Support
World Wide Web Consortium's definition[edit]
As an important provider of Web technology ICT Standards, notably XML, http, HTM
L, CSS and WAI, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) follows a process that promo
tes the development of high-quality standards.[30]
Looking at the end result, the spec alone, up for adoption, is not enough. The p
articipative/inclusive process leading to a particular design, and the supportin
g resources available with it should be accounted when we talk about Open Standa
rds:
transparency (due process is public, and all technical discussions, meeting minu

tes, are archived and referencable in decision making)


relevance (new standardization is started upon due analysis of the market needs,
including requirements phase, e.g. accessibility, multi-linguism)
openness (anybody can participate, and everybody does: industry, individual, pub
lic, government bodies, academia, on a worldwide scale)
impartiality and consensus (guaranteed fairness by the process and the neutral h
osting of the W3C organization, with equal weight for each participant)
availability (free access to the standard text, both during development, at fina
l stage, and for translations, and assurance that core Web and Internet technolo
gies can be implemented Royalty-Free)
maintenance (ongoing process for testing, errata, revision, permanent access, va
lidation, etc.)
In August 2012, the W3C combined with the IETF and IEEE to launch OpenStand [12]
and to publish The Modern Paradigm for Standards. This captures "the effective
and efficient standardization processes that have made the Internet and Web the
premiere platforms for innovation and borderless commerce".
Digital Standards Organization definition[edit]
The Digital Standards Organization (DIGISTAN) states that "an open standard must
be aimed at creating unrestricted competition between vendors and unrestricted
choice for users."[31] Its brief definition of "open standard" (or "free and ope
n standard") is "a published specification that is immune to vendor capture at a
ll stages in its life-cycle." Its more complete definition as follows:
"The standard is adopted and will be maintained by a not-for-profit organization
, and its ongoing development occurs on the basis of an open decision-making pro
cedure available to all interested parties.
The standard has been published and the standard specification document is avail
able freely. It must be permissible to all to copy, distribute, and use it freel
y.
The patents possibly present on (parts of) the standard are made irrevocably ava
ilable on a royalty-free basis.
There are no constraints on the re-use of the standard.
A key defining property is that an open standard is immune to vendor capture at
all stages in its life-cycle. Immunity from vendor capture makes it possible to
improve upon, trust, and extend an open standard over time."[32]
This definition is based on the EU's EIF v1 definition of "open standard," but w
ith changes to address what it terms as "vendor capture." They believe that "Man
y groups and individuals have provided definitions for 'open standard' that refl
ect their economic interests in the standards process. We see that the fundament
al conflict is between vendors who seek to capture markets and raise costs, and
the market at large, which seeks freedom and lower costs... Vendors work hard to
turn open standards into franchise standards. They work to change the statutory
language so they can cloak franchise standards in the sheep's clothing of 'open
standard.' A robust definition of "free and open standard" must thus take into
account the direct economic conflict between vendors and the market at large."[3
1]
Free Software Foundation Europe's definition[edit]
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) uses a definition which is based on t
he European Interoperability Framework v.1, and was extended after consultation
with industry and community stakeholders. FSFE's standard has been adopted by gr
oups such as the SELF EU Project, the 2008 Geneva Declaration on Standards and t
he Future of the Internet, and international Document Freedom Day teams.
According to this definition an Open Standard is a format or protocol that is:
Subject to full public assessment and use without constraints in a manner equall
y available to all parties;

Without any components or extensions that have dependencies on formats or protoc


ols that do not meet the definition of an Open Standard themselves;
Free from legal or technical clauses that limit its utilisation by any party or
in any business model;
Managed and further developed independently of any single vendor in a process op
en to the equal participation of competitors and third parties;
Available in multiple complete implementations by competing vendors, or as a com
plete implementation equally available to all parties.
FFII's definition[edit]
The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure's definition is said to coi
ncide with the definition issued in the European Interoperability Framework rele
ased in 2004.
A specification that is public, the standard is inclusive and it has been develo
ped and is maintained in an open standardization process, everybody can implemen
t it without any restriction, neither payment, to license the IPR (granted to ev
erybody for free and without any condition). This is the minimum license terms a
sked by standardization bodies as W3C. Of course, all the other bodies accept op
en standards. But specification itself could cost a fair amount of money (ie. 10
0-400Eur per copy as in ISO because copyright and publication of the document it
self).
Examples of open standards[edit]
Note that because the various definitions of "open standard" differ in their req
uirements, the standards listed below may not be open by every definition.
System[edit]
World Wide Web architecture specified by W3C[33]
Hardware[edit]
See also: Open-source hardware
Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) (a specification by IBM for plug-in boards
to IBM-architecture PCs, later standardized by the IEEE)
Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) (a specification by Intel Corporation fo
r plug-in boards to IBM-architecture PCs)
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) (a specification by Intel Corporation for plug-i
n boards to IBM-architecture PCs)
PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group (PICMG) (an industry consortium deve
loping Open Standards specifications for computer architectures )
Synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) and its DDR SDRAM variants (by
JEDEC Solid State Technology Association)
Universal Serial Bus (USB) (by USB Implementers Forum)
File formats[edit]
See also: Open format
Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) (file format for 2D vector graphics, raster gra
phics, and text defined by ISO/IEC 8632[34])
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Extensible HTML (XHTML) and HTML5 (specificati
ons of the W3C for structured hyperlinked document formatting)
Office Open XML (a specification by Microsoft for document, spreadsheet and pres
entation formats, approved by ISO as ISO/IEC 29500)
Ogg (a container for Vorbis, FLAC, Speex (audio formats) & Theora (a video forma
t), by the Xiph.Org Foundation)
Opus (audio codec, defined by IETF RFC 6716)
OpenDocument Format (ODF) (a specification by OASIS for office document formats,
approved by ISO as ISO/IEC 26300)
Portable Document Format (PDF/X) (a specification by Adobe Systems Incorporated
for formatted documents, later approved by ISO as ISO 15930-1:2001 [35])
Portable Network Graphics (PNG) (a bitmapped image format that employs lossless
data compression, approved by ISO as ISO/IEC 15948:2004)
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) (a specification for two-dimensional vector graph
ics developed by the World Wide Web

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