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PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"/><title>Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Public Invited Experts in the
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HTML Working Group</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../StyleSheets/base.css"/><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../Guide/pubrules-style.css"/><style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
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h2 { counter-increment: h2 }</style></head><body><div class="head">
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<p><a shape="rect" href="http://www.w3.org/"><img height="48" width="72" alt="W3C" src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/w3c_home"/></a> | <a href="/html" shape="rect">HTML</a></p>
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<h1>Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Public Invited Experts in the W3C
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HTML Working Group</h1>
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</div>
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<p>W3C has compiled this list of questions to help public and W3C
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Members alike understand the participation of <a
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href="/2005/10/Process-20051014/groups.html#invited-expert-wg">Invited
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Experts</a> in the <a href="/html/">HTML Working Group</a>. See also
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the <a href="/2004/08/invexp.html">W3C policy for approval of
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Invited Experts</a>.</p>
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<ol id="toclist"><li><a href="#modes">What communications modes are available to W3C Working
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Groups?</a></li><li><a href="#privs">Do Invited Experts in the HTML Working Group have Member
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access?</a></li><li><a href="#sameproc">Has W3C changed its Process for Invited Experts in the W3C
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HTML Working Group?</a></li><li><a href="#exception">Is the W3C HTML Working Group approach to Invited Experts
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an exception?</a></li><li><a href="#othergroups">Are other W3C Working Groups now required to follow the
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practice of the HTML Working Group?</a></li><li><a href="#naming">If you are not seeking the same level of expertise from
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Invited Experts in the HTML Working Group, shouldn't you call them something
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else?</a></li><li><a href="#bigig">Did you consider a large public Interest Group for discussion
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and a smaller Working Group for specification development (as has been done
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for XML, DOM, and other groups)?</a></li><li><a href="#employee">I want to participate as an individual in the HTML Working
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Group but I work for a W3C Member. Why can't I join as an Invited Expert?</a></li><li><a href="#membership">How does work in public have an impact on the value of
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W3C Membership?</a></li><li><a href="#listname">Why did you create public-html for the new Working Group,
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in addition to the existing www-html@w3.org?</a></li></ol><hr/><div class="questions">
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<div class="question">
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<h2 id="modes">What communications modes are available to W3C Working
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Groups?</h2>
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<p>A W3C Working Group may conduct its work in public, in "<a href="http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/comm.html#confidentiality-levels" shape="rect">Member space</a>", or both. Access to Member space, one of the
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<a href="/Consortium/membership-benefits" shape="rect">benefits of W3C
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Membership</a>, is available to any <a href="/Consortium/Member/" shape="rect">W3C Member</a> employee. W3C also grants Member access to some
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Invited Experts (i.e., individuals not employed by a W3C Member) as described
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below.</p>
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<p>A given Working Group, per its charter, may use both modes of
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communication. For instance, it may conduct its technical work in public, but
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conduct liason or administrative activities in Member space.In general, W3C
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Working Groups adopt one of the following communications modes, according to
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their needs and culture:</p>
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<ol><li>Both group internal communications and liaisons with other groups take
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place primarily in public.</li><li>Both group internal communications and liaisons with other groups take
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place primarily in Member space.</li><li>Group internal communications take place primarily in public, and the
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visibility of liaisons with other groups depends on the communications
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modes of those groups.</li></ol>
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<p>The HTML Working Group is the first type of group. Note that W3C does not
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currently use the terms "Public Working Group" and "Member Working Group"
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because there are at least three communications modes.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="question">
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<h2 id="privs">Do Invited Experts in the HTML Working Group have Member
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access?</h2>
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<p>No. They all have public access because the HTML Working Group is
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chartered to conduct its work entirely in public. W3C uses the
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term "Public Invited Expert" to describe the combination of Invited Expert
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participation and public access.</p>
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<p>Note that, because an <em>individual</em> may participate in <em>more than
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one</em> W3C Working Group, that individual may have additional access
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privileges due to participation in another group.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="question">
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<h2 id="sameproc">Has W3C changed its Process for Invited Experts in the W3C
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HTML Working Group?</h2>
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<p>No. Per the <a href="http://www.w3.org/2005/10/Process-20051014/groups.html#invited-expert-wg" shape="rect">W3C Process</a>, the Chair(s) and Staff Contact for a group may
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invite "an individual with a particular expertise to participate in a Working
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Group."</p>
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<p>For any W3C Working Group, the Staff Contact reviews each Invited Expert
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application. The criteria applied for the HTML Working Group differ somewhat
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than those applied for other W3C Working Groups. Specific technical
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expertise, though appreciated, is not an absolute requirement. The Staff
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Contact looks closely at the applicant's employment and business
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relationships. In particular, if an individual works for a Member
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organization, that individual will not be granted Invited Expert status.
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Instead, that individual should encourage their employer, a W3C Member, to
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join the HTML Working Group. See the <a href="/2004/08/invexp.html" shape="rect">policy for approval of Invited Experts</a> for more information
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about criteria used by the W3C Staff when evaluating an Invited Expert
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application.</p>
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<p>W3C HTML Working Group charter thus encourages wide <a href="http://www.w3.org/2007/03/HTML-WG-charter#participation" shape="rect">participation</a>. Although levels of technical expertise may
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vary among the Invited Experts, W3C believes that there are many people with
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relevant experience whose may make useful contributions, offer useful
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reviews, provide test cases, and connect W3C to diverse communities.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="question">
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<h2 id="exception">Is the W3C HTML Working Group approach to Invited Experts
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an exception?</h2>
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<p>Yes. While other groups have Public Invited Experts, no other group has,
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or encourages, the participation of as many. For this Working Group, W3C
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believes that the benefits of engaging a large community in this work is
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important to the deployment of the specification, and thus will benefit W3C
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as an organization, including all its Members and those who participate as
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Invited Experts.</p>
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<p>Accordingly, the <a href="/2004/08/invexp#principles" shape="rect">principle</a> that "Public Invited status is not normally
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granted to individuals employed by organizations which have significant
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business interest in results from W3C" has been relaxed in the case of the
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W3C HTML Working Group. </p>
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</div>
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<div class="question">
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<h2 id="othergroups">Are other W3C Working Groups now required to follow the
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practice of the HTML Working Group?</h2>
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<p>No. Each Working Group has its own local culture, charter, and
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participation requirements.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="question">
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<h2 id="naming">If you are not seeking the same level of expertise from
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Invited Experts in the HTML Working Group, shouldn't you call them something
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else?</h2>
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<p>Perhaps. The W3C Staff is considering the implications of using another
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term. There would be costs as well as benefits to choosing a new term for a
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Group with this set of expectations about participation.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="question">
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<h2 id="bigig">Did you consider a large public Interest Group for discussion
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and a smaller Working Group for specification development (as has been done
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for XML, DOM, and other groups)?</h2>
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<p>Yes, but that organization was not chosen for the March 2007 launch. W3C
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might still choose, after 6 to 18 months of experience, to reorganize the
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group.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="question">
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<h2 id="employee">I want to participate as an individual in the HTML Working
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Group but I work for a W3C Member. Why can't I join as an Invited Expert?</h2>
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<p>The primary reason has to do with the <a href="/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/Overview.html" shape="rect">W3C
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Patent Policy</a>, which promotes the creation of standards that may be
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implemented Royalty-Free. The W3C Patent Policy is most effective when W3C
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Members with patent portfolios participate. To participate, they agree to the
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<a href="/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/Overview.html#sec-Requirements" shape="rect">Royalty-Free Licensing Requirements</a> of the policy;
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individuals are much less likely to hold patents than organizations. The
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policy has gained broad support from W3C Members and public alike. Allowing
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individual participation by Member employees would undermine the intent of
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the policy, in turn eroding confidence in the ability to implement the
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standard on a Royalty-Free basis.</p>
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<p>For additional information about the W3C Patent Policy, please refer to
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the <cite><a href="/2004/02/05-patentsummary.html" shape="rect">Overview and
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Summary of W3C Patent Policy</a></cite>, discussion of the <cite><a href="/2004/03/pp-points-20040210.html" shape="rect">Business Benefits of the
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W3C Patent Policy</a></cite>, <cite><a href="/2003/12/22-pp-faq" shape="rect">Patent Policy FAQ</a></cite>, and <cite><a href="/2004/01/pp-impl/fact-sheet" shape="rect">Patent Policy Fact
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Sheet</a></cite> (which has statistics about the policy in practice).</p>
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</div>
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<div class="question">
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<h2 id="membership">How does work in public have an impact on the value of
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W3C Membership?</h2>
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<p>It is likely that some organizations view work in public as a disincentive
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to join as a Member. However, even that perspective varies depending on the
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nature of the work. In the particular case of HTML, there was very
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significant support from the W3C Membership to conduct work on HTML in
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public. Furthermore, a large, supportive community around HTML increases the
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value of the W3C brand, which in turn improves the value proposition in other
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W3C Working Groups.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="question">
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<h2 id="listname">Why did you create public-html for the new Working Group,
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in addition to the existing www-html@w3.org?</h2>
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<p>www-html@w3.org remains active and will serve its original purpose: as a
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forum for discussion of HTML. Anyone may join that list.</p>
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<p>W3C created a new public list to accompany the new operating mode of the
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Working Group under the W3C Patent Policy. It was easier (and less disruptive
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to the existing list) to create a new mailing list for discussions of the new
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group.</p>
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</div>
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</div><hr/>
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<p>Questions? Write <a href="/People/Jacobs/">Ian Jacobs</a> at
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w3t-comm@w3.org. Based on a draft by Dan Connolly.</p>
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<p class="copyright"><a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice-20000612#Copyright" shape="rect">Copyright</a> © 2007 <a href="http://www.w3.org/" shape="rect">W3C</a> <sup>®</sup> (<a shape="rect" href="http://www.csail.mit.edu/">MIT</a>, <a href="http://www.ercim.org/" shape="rect">ERCIM</a>, <a href="http://www.keio.ac.jp/" shape="rect">Keio</a>), All Rights Reserved. W3C <a shape="rect" href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice-20000612#Legal_Disclaimer">liability</a>,
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<a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice-20000612#W3C_Trademarks" shape="rect">trademark</a>, <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/copyright-documents-19990405" shape="rect">document use</a>, and <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/copyright-software-19980720" shape="rect">software licensing</a> rules apply.</p><p>Last modified: $Date: 2007/04/23 19:00:20 $ by $Author: ijacobs $.</p></body></html>
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