I'd like to ask for clarification how/whether the existence of
patents should affect the standardization procedure, in which way the
(non)existence and/or contents of Letters of Assurance influences the
procedures at the various stages, and whether the Letters of Assurance
are open to list members or to the public (e.g. the Reliable Computing
mailing list).
This has nothing to do with speculations on the validity or strength
of patents, and should therefore be within the boundaries of permitted
discussion.