The WAP architecture looks open. After all, anyone can download the specifications. In this case, however, control comes not directly from the architecture, but from the interaction of architecture and laws. The spec says you have to use this patented technology, and the law says you have to pay the patent holder to use it. Software developers have long said that any problem can be solved by adding another layer of indirection.
Network protocols have a corollary about layers in the stack.
Until now, however, this has not been true of hardware. Transmeta changes that. In the past, any x86 clone has been on the Intel treadmill. The Intel treadmill is the technical device that Intel wields as the defining force in the x86 market. All the cloners go back to the drawing board, letting Intel have another six to nine month window without significant competition for their new high margin products.