Subject: Proposed Statement to SC29

From: Steve Carson <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 07 Jul 1997 10:07:27 -0600

FOR SC24 INTERNAL DISTRIBUTION ONLY

I propose sending the following statement to SC29 this Friday, 11 July. I
believe that the statement is self explanatory. If any NB objects, we can
have further discussion on this reflector about it. I would like return
e-mail to me from each NB saying that you concur with sending this
statement to SC29.

- - -
This is a joint statement from ISO/IEC JTC1/SC24 and the VRML Consortium to
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29.

Thank you for the recent e-mail exchange with us regarding the use of VRML
2.0 in MPEG-4. First we want to reiterate the willingness of both ISO/IEC
JTC1/SC24 and the VRML Consortium to work with SC29/WG11 in making a
proper, normative reference to DIS 14772-1 (VRML) from the CD for MPEG-4.

To this end, at the urging of technical experts involved in VRML, we
recently had the opportunity to review SC29/WG 11 N 1683 ("Overview of the
MPEG-4 standard") and N 1692 ("Working Draft 4.0 of ISO/IEC 14496-1"), both
dated April 1997. To our shock and dismay we find that the MPEG-4 work has
taken material from an older Working Draft version of DIS 14772 and has
incorporated that material into the MPEG-4 specification without permission
and further has modified it without permission. 

The VRML specification from which the material was improperly used was
copyrighted and its use by ISO was further governed by the terms of a
Cooperative Agreement between the VRML Architecture Group (the predecessor
of the VRML Consortium and the previous owners of the specification) and
both ISO and the IEC. This agreement (which has been endorsed by SC 24, JTC
1, and both ISO and IEC Councils) places strict limits on the use of any
portion of the VRML specification (in whole or in part) within ISO and IEC.
In particular, the material is to be used within JTC 1 only for purposes of
working jointly and cooperatively with the VAG (now the VRML Consortium) to
create a single version of VRML that is both an International Standard and
a VRML Consortium Standard. 

Both the VRML Consortium and SC24 are committed is seeing that there is
"only one VRML." Therefore we must ask you to remove from MPEG-4 all text
that you have copied from older versions of VRML and that you replace it by
a proper, normative reference to DIS 14772. This includes any "derived
text," including but not limited to the specific node names and 3D
information structuring concepts that you have taken from VRML.

Although SC 29 could choose to invent some new 3D format that is totally
different from VRML, for use in MPEG-4, we strongly urge you to work
cooperatively with us to apply the one and only VRML Standard to your work.
VRML has tremendous flexibility already available in the language.
There is good reason to believe that a cooperative approach will strengthen 
and benefit the overall MPEG-4 effort. We are ready and eager to assist you
in this process.

signed:

Steve Carson                               Neil Trevitt
Chair, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24                 3D Labs
Computer Graphics and Image Processing     President, VRML Consortium

Steve Carson
Chair, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 24
Computer Graphics and Image Processing
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Steve Carson                 phone:   +1-505-521-7399
GSC Associates Inc.          fax:     +1-505-521-9321
5272 Redman Road             e-mail:  [email-masked]
Las Cruces, NM 88011 USA
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