Editing Open standard (section)

=== By non-profit organizations ===
==== Open Source Initiative's definition ====
The [[Open Source Initiative]] defines the requirements and criteria for open standards as follows:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://opensource.org/osr|title=Open Standards Requirement for Software – Open Source Initiative|website=opensource.org|date=24 July 2006 |access-date=18 March 2018}}</ref>

The Requirement

An "open standard" must not prohibit conforming implementations in open source software.

The Criteria

To comply with the Open Standards Requirement, an "open standard" must satisfy the following criteria. If an "open standard" does not meet these criteria, it will 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 version 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 stable web site) under royalty-free terms at reasonable and non-discriminatory cost.
# 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 agreement, NDA, grant, click-through, or any other form of paperwork to deploy conforming implementations of the standard.
# No OSR-Incompatible Dependencies: Implementation of the standard MUST NOT require any other technology that fails to meet the criteria of this Requirement.

==== World Wide Web Consortium's definition ====
As a provider of Web technology [[Information and Communications Technology|ICT]] Standards, notably [[XML]], [[http]], [[HTML]], [[CSS]] and [[WAI]], the [[World Wide Web Consortium]] (W3C) follows a process that promotes the development of quality standards.<ref>[http://www.w3.org/2005/09/dd-osd.html Definition of Open Standards] World Wide Web Consortium</ref>

Looking at the result, the spec alone, up for adoption, is not enough. The participative/inclusive process leading to a particular design, and the supporting resources available with it should be accounted when we talk about Open Standards:

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*transparency (due process is public, and all technical discussions, meeting minutes, 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, public, government bodies, academia, on a worldwide scale)
*impartiality and consensus (guaranteed fairness by the process and the neutral hosting of the W3C organization, with equal weight for each participant)
*availability (free access to the standard text, both during development, at final stage, and for translations, and assurance that core Web and Internet technologies can be implemented Royalty-Free)
*maintenance (ongoing process for testing, errata, revision, permanent access, validation, etc.)
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In August 2012, the W3C combined with the IETF and IEEE to launch OpenStand <ref name="OpenStand"/> 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 ====

The [[Digital Standards Organization]] (DIGISTAN) states that "an open standard must be aimed at creating unrestricted competition between vendors and unrestricted choice for users."<ref name="Defining Open Standard">{{Cite web |url=http://www.digistan.org/text:rationale |title=Defining "Open Standard" |access-date=2008-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420091338/http://www.digistan.org/text:rationale |archive-date=2016-04-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Its brief definition of "open standard" (or "free and open standard") is "a published specification that is immune to vendor capture at all stages in its life-cycle." Its more complete definition as follows:

<blockquote>
* "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 procedure available to all interested parties.
* The standard has been published and the standard specification document is available freely. It must be permissible to all to copy, distribute, and use it freely.
* The patents possibly present on (parts of) the standard are made irrevocably available 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."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition |title=What is an Open Standard? |access-date=2008-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805073355/http://www.digistan.org/open-standard:definition |archive-date=2010-08-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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This definition is based on the EU's EIF v1 definition of "open standard," but with changes to address what it terms as "vendor capture." They believe that "Many groups and individuals have provided definitions for 'open standard' that reflect their economic interests in the standards process. We see that the fundamental 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."<ref name="Defining Open Standard"/>

==== Free Software Foundation Europe's definition ====

The [[Free Software Foundation Europe]] (FSFE) uses a definition which is based on the [[European Interoperability Framework]] v.1, and was extended after consultation with industry and community stakeholders.<ref>https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/standards/def.en.html [https://web.archive.org/web/20090710000959/http://fsfe.org/projects/os/def.html old ver]</ref> FSFE's standard has been adopted by groups such as the SELF EU Project, the 2008 Geneva Declaration on Standards and the 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 equally available to all parties;
# Without any components or extensions that have dependencies on formats or protocols 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 open to the equal participation of competitors and third parties;
# Available in multiple complete implementations by competing vendors, or as a complete implementation equally available to all parties.

==== FFII's definition ====

The [[Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure]]'s definition is said{{by whom|date=September 2015}} to coincide with the definition issued in the European Interoperability Framework released in 2004.

<blockquote>
A specification that is public, the standard is inclusive and it has been developed and is maintained in an open standardization process, everybody can implement it without any restriction, neither payment, to license the IPR (granted to everybody for free and without any condition). This is the minimum license terms asked by standardization bodies as W3C. Of course, all the other bodies accept open standards. But specification itself could cost a fair amount of money (i.e. 100–400 Eur per copy as in ISO because copyright and publication of the document itself).<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-01-18|title=FFII Workgroup on Open Standards – FFII|url=http://action.ffii.org/openstandards|access-date=2021-11-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070118141247/http://action.ffii.org/openstandards|archive-date=2007-01-18}}</ref>
</blockquote>