Abstract
In modern societies, formal standardization is one means to help balance the commercial desire for profit with the public desire for open standards. How does/should a standardization committee balance the importance of private gain to motivate the creation of the new and improved with the importance of open standards to expand markets and define open interfaces for future extensions? This paper presents a broad historical view of standardization and describes how different successions of standards have been balanced in quite different ways. A technical approach to balance compatibility standardization and standards is identified along with successful examples of its implementation.
