Windsor, England, 2
October 2003 -- The International Press Telecommunications
Council has strongly protested against proposed royalties
to be charged by the International Organization for
Standardization (known as ISO) for the commercial use
of its widely used codes. Licensing fees for ISO codes
that represent languages, countries and currencies
are a threat to the free exchange of news, the IPTC
said.
In a
letter to ISO, the IPTC - the worldwide technical
standards organization for the news industry -- says
that the fees will have a "severe negative impact" on
IPTC's ability to create freely available standards
for the exchange of news. The IPTC's standards are
the technical backbone for the exchange of news worldwide,
and all IPTC standards produced since 1991 rely on
ISO codes. The IPTC does not charge for its standards
or technical publications; the entire cost is borne
by IPTC's members. If ISO goes ahead with its proposed
fees, virtually every computer system in the news
industry will be liable for royalties.
In mid-September 2003, IPTC learned that ISO intends
to charge a fee for the mere use of its letter codes
that designate languages, currencies and countries.
This includes commonly used country codes in Internet
addresses, such as "uk", "jp" and "de";
language codes, such as "en", "fr" and "es";
and currency codes, such as "USD", "EUR" and "JPY".
All will be subject to the new charges.
ISO has long earned its revenue by charging membership
fees and by selling documents that describe its standard
specifications. The actual use of the standardised
values is free. ISO's proposed fees will damage the
trust that has been placed in the standards process
by industries around the world, many of which cannot
afford even small fees. The free exchange and processing
of standard values for the common good of users in
both rich and poor nations has been a bedrock of commerce,
science, the news industry and the World Wide Web.
The impact of ISO's proposed fees will be discussed
at IPTC's next regular meeting, to be held in Leipzig,
Germany, on 8 to 10 October 2003.
|
