I have nothing against intellectual property

Neelie Kroes: Address at Open Forum Europe 2010 Summit: 'Openness at the heart of the EU Digital Agenda' Brussels, 10th June 2010

Interoperability and (ICT) standards.  “(…) everybody who cares about interoperability should care about the financial conditions for the use of standards as well as the indirect constraints imposed on third parties: the fewer constraints the better.  (…)  we must use all opportunities to promote appropriate rules for ex-ante disclosures of essential IPR and licensing conditions in standard-setting contexts.

I have nothing against intellectual property being brought to the standard-setting table, but it must be disclosed. Any economist will tell you that you can only make a rational decision between different options if you can compare their benefits and their costs. And, let's face it, establishing FRAND (Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory) prices is a hard task over which reasonable people often disagree. Transparency is therefore in everyone's interest - the alternatives are not. Why risk the litigation? Why set a standard in ignorance of the costs of implementation?

In some cases, the choice of a technology in a standard might be obvious in the absence of technical alternatives. Costs and licensing conditions are less relevant in such cases. But in most cases there are competing options and it makes clear sense to also consider this information.

The Commission has already taken an important step by drafting new guidelines (…) The draft, which is currently available for public comment, relies on the well-established concepts of non-discrimination, transparency and availability and specifies minimum requirements that distinguish standard-setting from a cartel.

But I want to do more. Some standard-setting bodies already have ex-ante disclosure rules, so why not all of them? This is a matter of efficiency in my opinion.

Lees de gehele toespraak hier.