Re: Standards Availability
I agree with Howard; the proposed system is too complex.
However, setting up a system to charge people for downloads will be costly and
will result in revenues being absorbed by the setup and operational costs. It
would be better to keep the .pdf version free at all times, so that we can
achieve our goal of maximum availability of the standards.
Paper and CD-ROM versions do have production costs, and it is reasonable to
charge for them always, as Howard suggests. This might well be done through
outside shops; certainly our experience with Alpha Graphics was very positive.
The key here is to franchise more than one source, so that competition will
keep the prices and service within reasonable bounds, and distant locations
(such as Europe and Asia) can be served locally.
Jim Mollenauer
Howard Frazier wrote:
> I have been thinking about the program we have been working
> on to make 802 standards freely available, and I have
> come to the conclusion that the program as currently described
> is unlikely to succeed. The are too many parties, too many issues,
> too much administration, and too many risks.
>
> I would like to propose a simpler program structure for your
> consideration. Briefly stated, it is as follows:
>
> 1) IEEE may always charge a reasonable fee for paper copies of
> a standard.
>
> 2) IEEE may charge a reasonable fee (where reasonable is defined
> to be "similar to the current fee structure") for PDF copies of
> a standard for the period of one year from the date the standard
> is approved.
>
> 3) After one year from the date of approval, PDF copies of the
> standard are available free of charge. IEEE retains it's copyright.
> Reprinting or redistribution is prohibited.
>
> 4) To make up for the lost revenue that the IEEE would have normally
> received, IEEE 802 agrees to remit approximately $100K to the IEEE
> standards office each calendar year.
>
> The rationale for this approach is:
>
> A) There is a cost associated with printing and mailing a paper copy,
> and IEEE should be allowed to recover this cost.
>
> B) There is a cost associated with editing and publishing a standard,
> and IEEE should be allowed to recover this cost. This proposal gives
> IEEE the opportunity to recover the cost as quickly as possible, and
> during the period where the retail value of the standard is probably
> the highest.
>
> C) Once the startup costs are recovered, the costs associated with
> maintaining access to the PDF archives are minimal.
>
> D) The $100K contribution from IEEE 802 will make up for the revenue
> lost by the IEEE from the sale of "old" standards.
>
> E) By eliminating all of the corporate sponsorship elements of the
> previous proposal, we make the program considerable simpler to implement
> and administer on an ongoing basis.
>
> F) Most importantly, the only parties to this deal are the membership
> of 802, and the IEEE staff. That gives us some hope of being able
> to reach closure, and once these parties decide it's a go, the program will
> succeed, with no external dependencies or uncertainties.
>
> Respectfully submitted for your consideration.
>
> Howard Frazier
> IEEE P802 LMSC Recording Secretary
> DomiNet Systems