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    Should Standards Be Free?
    This issue has been a point of much contention, one that the standards industry has turned into a public discussion. Following is an opinion which represents one side of the debate.

    1998 World Standards Day Paper Competition
    Sponsored by the
    World Standards Day Planning Committee and the
    Standards Engineering Society

    The Myth of Free Standards:
    Giving Away the Farm

    by Andrew N. Bank
    Vice President, Business Development
    Techstreet

    First Place Winner
     

    Why was this paper written?
    World Standards Day is an annual event celebrated by the standards and business communities to focus national attention on the importance of standards to all sectors of commerce, industry, and government. In 1998, World Standards Day was observed on September 23.  In addition to week long activities to highlight the role of standardization, a paper competition was held on a given topic.

    The paper competition is sponsored by the Standards Engineering Society in cooperation with the World Standards Day Planning Committee. This year's paper competition topic was "Standards for Fee or Free: What are the Consequences?" This year's winning entry was awarded to Andrew Bank, Vice President of Business Development of Techstreet, during the annual World Standards Day Dinner on September 23, 1998 in Washington, DC.

    The paper topic was intended to make a case for whether U.S., regional, and/or international standards should be fee-based (as most are now) or provided free of charge to all interested parties.  "Standards for Fee or Free" is becoming a contentious issue as global trade expands and more companies are compelled to standardize their products and services.  Some standards users and standards publishers believe that the standards and specifications which necessarily allow companies to compete in the global market should be free of charge.  But other users and publishers believe that standards development and implementation is an expensive undertaking and holds a pricetag to be shared by all.

    This year's winning paper details the many reasons why standards should not be free.


    Read the paper online or click here to request a paper copy of the essay.