About the Standards Blog

There are over 1,000,000 supported standards, with more being developed all the time. The Standards Blog examines how standards are developed, and their impact on business, society, and the future. This site is hosted by Gesmer Updegrove LLP, a technology law firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. GU is an internationally recognized leader in creating and representing the organizations that create and promote standards and open source software. The opinions expressed in The Standards Blog are those of Andy Updegrove alone, and not necessarily those of GU. Please see the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy for this site, which appear here.
Latest News
China to get its own version of HD DVD, incompatible with the world standardHDTV.uk –October 16, 2006 - In a bid to stop piracy and to provide a lower cost system and discs for the Chinese population, it has been confirmed by the DVD Forum that China will get its own HD DVD format which will be incompatible with the standard the rest of the world has adopted.The only difference is the modulation scheme. The Chinese version will use Four to Six Modulation instead of Eight to Twelve Modulation.
The financial motivation is that China's consumers have lower purchasing power compared to those in the US and Europe. Supposedly the anti-piracy measures will primarily stop trade of counterfeit discs between China and the rest of the world, as 'internal piracy' could still continue whatever format is adopted. Full Story
The European Commission adopts its new Open Source Software Strategy 2020-2023Press Release –October 21, 2020 - On October 21st, the European Commission approved its new Open Source Software Strategy 2020-2023 of the Commission. This is an important step towards achieving the goals of the overarching Digital Strategy of the Commission and contributing to the Digital Europe programme.
The internal strategy, under the theme \"Think Open\", sets out a vision for encouraging and leveraging the transformative, innovative and collaborative power of open source, its principles and development practices. It promotes the sharing and reuse of software solutions, knowledge and expertise, to deliver better European services that benefit society and lower costs to that society. The Commission commits to increasing its use of open source not only in practical areas such as IT, but also in areas where it can be strategic... Full Story
News Feed Moved to Blog EntriesAndrew Updegrove –November 30, 2019 - Going forward, news updates will be aggregated into periodic blog entries rather than displaying individually here. Full Story
U.S.-Based Chip-Tech Group Moving to Switzerland Over Trade Curb FearsStephen Nellis in San Francisco / Alexandra AlperRISK-V CEO Calista Redmond commenting on the organization\'s decision to move to Switzerland –November 26, 2019 - A U.S.-based foundation overseeing promising semiconductor technology developed with Pentagon support will soon move to Switzerland after several of the group's foreign members raised concerns about potential U.S. trade curbs.
The nonprofit RISC-V Foundation (pronounced risk-five) wants to ensure that universities, governments and companies outside the United States can help develop its open-source technology, its Chief Executive Calista Redmond said in an interview with Reuters...
"From around the world, we've heard that 'If the incorporation was not in the U.S., we would be a lot more comfortable'," she said... Full Story
Google Launches OpenTitan Project to Open Source Chip SecurityKelly Sheridan –November 12, 2019 - Google is teaming up with tech industry partners to launch OpenTitan, an open source project to strengthen chip security. The initiative will build reference design and integration guidelines for root-of-trust (RoT) silicon chips to be implemented in data center servers, storage devices, peripherals, and other technologies.
The goal is to give chipmakers and platform providers the ability to inspect and contribute to the design, firmware, and documentation of silicon chips. By open-sourcing the chip design, members of OpenTitan hope to make the process more transparent and secure. RoT chips can be used in server motherboards, network cards, laptops, phones, routers, and Internet of Things devices... Full Story
Adobe, The New York Times Company and Twitter Announce Content Authenticity Initiative to Develop Industry Standard for Content AttributionPress Release –November 8, 2019 - At Adobe MAX, Adobe today announced the Content Authenticity Initiative, along with The New York Times Company and Twitter, aimed at developing an industry standard for digital content attribution.
The ability to provide proper content attribution for creators and publishers is critical to ensure trust and transparency online. Adobe, The New York Times Company and Twitter believe that creating a long-term solution is a shared responsibility among creators, technology, and media companies, and that joining forces will accelerate progress...
Adobe is developing an opt-in system that will allow creators and publishers to securely attach attribution data to content they choose to share. The framework is designed to let authors verify their content so that they receive proper attribution and provide consumers with an attribution trail to give them greater confidence about the authenticity of the content they\'re consuming...Adobe, The New York Times Company and Twitter plan to kick off the initiative at a summit along with a larger group of technology and media companies in the coming months.
Companies interested in participating in the Content Authenticity Initiative can learn more at http://www.adobe.com/go/content-authenticity or contact contentauthenticity@adobe.com. Full Story
ANSI and USAID Announce Implementation of Standards Alliance: Phase 2 –October 30, 2019 - The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the launch of Standards Alliance: Phase 2. The public-private partnership will build upon the success of Phase I to support the capacity of developing countries in the areas of legal and regulatory framework, standards development, conformity assessment procedures, and private sector engagement.
The second phase of the Standards Alliance will involve collaboration with U.S. private sector partners, U.S. government experts, and USAID eligible countries over a five-year period. A key goal of Phase 2 is to help increase the capacity of developing countries to implement accepted international best practices to reduce instances of poor quality and unsafe products, services, and infrastructure. Ultimately, better adoption and implementation of international standards will improve the quality and safety of goods on a global scale.
The expansion of the program will also seek to create new avenues for bilateral partnership, and will pursue inclusive approaches to support gender balance and responsiveness, especially in fields related to science, technology, and innovation. In particular, the program will support balanced gender representation during events and in speaking roles... Full Story
ANSI, in Partnership with European Standardization Organizations, Releases Guidance Documents to Clarify the U.S. and European Standardization Systems –October 28, 2019 - The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), in partnership with three European Standardization Organizations (ESOs), CEN, CENELEC, and ETSI, has released two guidance documents to increase understanding of the respective U.S. and European standardization systems. The documents are an outcome of long-term discussions between the ESOs and ANSI, to further enhance cooperation and transparency between the groups... Full Story
Senators Urge DOJ to Develop Antitrust Guidance for Licensing of Standard Essential Patents –October 25, 2019 - On Monday 21, 2019, U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Christopher A. Coons (D-DE) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice pushing it to provide greater clarity as to its antitrust enforcement policy on standard essential patents ("SEPs"). SEPs are patents necessary for certain technological standards set by standard setting organizations...SEPs can give rise to antitrust risks. For example, firms holding patents integrated into technological standards can wield significant leverage over their potential competitors by refusing to give access to the patents necessary to compete. Such conduct may constitute unlawful monopolization in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act and other SEP licensing practices may also violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act as anticompetitive agreements.
The U.S. antitrust agencies have expressed differing views as to SEPs. The FTC and DOJ have adopted opposing positions at times, and there have even been internal inconsistencies within the agencies... Full Story
New NEMA Standard to Enable Coexistence of Multiple Communication Technologies for Connected Vehicle Roadside InfrastructurePress Release –October 8, 2019 - A new National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) Standard will harmonize and could accelerate deployment of connected vehicle roadside infrastructure technology, according to a preview of the Standard presented at the Intelligent Transportation Society of Georgia (ITSGA) Annual Meeting in Athens, GA.
NEMA TS 10 Connected Vehicle Infrastructure-Roadside Equipment commissioned by the NEMA Transportation Management Systems Section is a harmonized technical specification for roadside connected vehicle devices. Types of roadside devices covered under the Standard are traffic signals, crosswalk signs, flashing school zone safety beacons, ramp meters, and other electronic traffic control equipment.
A vital component of the connected vehicle ecosystem is the ability for vehicles and the infrastructure to communicate with each other regardless of the type of device or underlying technology. With NEMA TS 10, Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) and Cellular Vehicle to Everything (C-V2X) can work together in the same spectrum via a dual-mode or dual active roadside connected vehicle device... Full Story