T H E    U N I V E R S I T Y    O F   P E N N S Y L V A N I A    L A W    S C H O O L

E L E C T R O N I C   C O M M E R C E :   V E R S I O N  2.0

MAIN MENU:	CALENDAR	SYLLABUS	DISCUSSION	ADMINISTRATION
NOTICES:	Congratulations to the Fall 2001 class for an excellent semester. eCommerce will return next year.

 

eCommerce Competition II:
The Standards Wars

Administrative Notes: remember the essay part of the exam is due Friday, Dec 7th at 2:00 PM. next Tuesday's class: no CPs assigned; materials only available online; class credit available.

 

---

 

What is a Standard?

Define a "standard"

What features do standards have in common?

Must they be solely technological?

 

Why have standards:
Are there consumer benefits?

technological benefits?

marketplace benefits?

---

 

How do Standards Get Made?

 

(1) "private" or competitive standards (sometimes called de facto standards)

(2) group or collective standards

models of collective standard-setting (Vincent/Camp article):

government model (ITU)

commercial model (W3C)

Industry/Interest Group model (IEEE)

Open model (IETF)

Note: standards operate in the marketplace; "if you build it, they still may not come" (exception here for wireless standards, for example)

---

 

Competitive Concerns About Standards

 

What are the competitive concerns about standards?

(1)

(2)

Are they more serious in the case of private/de facto standards rather than collective standards?

Does any particular "model" noted above address the competitive concerns?

Does antitrust law allow us to distinguish between good and bad standardization behaviors? Should we use something else?

 

C O P Y R I G H T   ©   2001   R.   P O L K   W A G N E R.