Re: Email messages: How large is too large?

[Dave Crocker]

At 09:02 AM 12/18/1999 , Peter Deutsch wrote:
>To revisit a theme I raised back in the summer, this need to be able to
>prove prior art is the reason I believe we need to preserve Internet
>Drafts, not just mailing lists and other work output from the IETF.  I'm
>all for protecting innovation, and believe patents have a role in this
>industry, but I've seen a few bogus claims and am happy to do my bit to
>see them struck down. They tend to fall fairly easily if you have access
>to suitable examples of prior art.


Hmm, that makes two of us who have tried to pursue this.  It is currently 
extremely difficult for research about prior art to access the treasure 
trove of IETF discussion and development.  Essentially, you have to know 
exactly what you want, by name.  A searchable, permanent archive would be 
simple and incredibly useful.

d/

=-=-=-=-=
Dave Crocker  <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Brandenburg Consulting  <www.brandenburg.com>
Tel: +1.408.246.8253,  Fax: +1.408.273.6464
675 Spruce Drive,  Sunnyvale, CA 94086 USA