Editing Open standard (section)

==== 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>
</blockquote>

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"/>