[Foundation-l] Request for approval for a wiki for standards

Sat Jan 7 18:14:14 UTC 2006

Robert Scott Horning wrote:

> I want to add that there is a huge need for open and free (as in 
> speech as well as beer) standards.  Even modestly priced standards 
> from groups like ANSI or ISO can cost more than $200 a piece, and I've 
> seen some fairly general standards documents costing more than 
> $100,000 each with some incredibly draconian non-disclosure 
> agreements.  Even supposedly public standards like the National 
> Electrical Code that governs how buildings are wired with electricity 
> can cost a couple thousand dollars... and that is a matter of law that 
> you have to live by.  

To what extent do these standards have the force of law, particularly in 
the United States.  When the United States ratifies a treaty it means 
that it has effectively made that treaty a part of the law of the United 
States.  Since US laws are excluded from copyright we should be free to 
include the standards that have been so adopted into Wikisource.

Ec