They need a way to define their own rules and to exclude people who break them. No one disputes the value of some mechanism that serves for the good of all community members, such as a system that could issue alerts about viruses or simple updates about software and new applications. Business interests already are trying to find answers that will allow for widespread commercialization, while the original developers warn that ethics and values are at stake. This is fundamental stuff. Not about whether Britney Spears is going to be able to buy a house in Beverly Hills.
Standards are theoretically simple technical rules, playing no favorites.
But many have long dismissed the notion of truly independent technological standards, saying it is impossible for the World Wide Web Consortium , the Internet Engineering Task Force and other organizations to insulate themselves completely from the enormous influence of powerhouses such as Microsoft. No one knows that better than Windows partner Intel. And that may be precisely why the chipmaker has taken an uncharacteristically early lead in P2P development. That kind of talk scares Clarke and others fighting to keep P2P as free as possible. Ideals need to come before economy, before economics, every time.