TIFF use within ITU standards / Out of scope

[Scott Foshee <sfoshee@xxxxxxxxx>]

Please circulate to ITU management.

Dear Gentlemen,

I am the person at Adobe responsible for TIFF.  It has come to my 
attention that rather than using finalized IETF specifications for 
your TIFF based standards, the ITU publication (T.37) of the set of 
standards commonly referred to as TIFF FX (RFC 2301) preceded the 
IETF's final publication. Unfortunately, I must inform you that TIFF 
FX, as defined by the IETF in RFC 2301 and in ITU T.37, is outside 
the scope of the license grant provided both to the ITU and the IETF 
in the fall of 1997.  Other ITU efforts may also be affected.

Adobe has communicated ongoing concerns in this area to the IETF 
editors/Xerox since the Spring of 1998.  The Editors continued 
progressing the document despite Adobe objections, thus Adobe 
formally notified IETF management in December 2000 and the issue was 
elevated to the IETF's IAB in March of 2001.  It was Adobe's 
understanding from the IETF editors that the ITU was basing its work 
on the IETF's work and that communication with them was sufficient. 
This issue is currently being considered by the IETF Internet Fax 
working group and has yet to be resolved.

Since the IETF standard and any adoption/implementation of TIFF 
FX--including ITU standards based on TIFF FX--is out of scope of 
Adobe's 1997 license grant, please rescind publication of the 
standards based upon RFC 2301 until these standards are brought 
within the scope of Adobe's license.  This would include T.37 and 
other TIFF FX based efforts.

Adobe understands  that the IETF specifically declines to take a 
stance on IP use in its standards and thus defers decisions on the IP 
status of technology in its standards to the members of its working 
groups and those who choose to adopt/implement their technology, and 
whatever internal processes these companies/organizations have for 
evaluating the IP of technology they choose to include in their 
products or support in standards. Thus, the ITU's mere use of IETF 
standards does not imply compliance with an Adobe TIFF license.

Finally, please notify SG16 and other affected parties.  Since Adobe 
is a supplier of copyrighted work to the ITU under license and not a 
participant in the working group, it is not apparent how we may 
contact the various participants and parties directly.

I am confident that Adobe can reach an agreement with those wishing 
to make use of TIFF in the development and use of TIFF FX.  For 
instance, at the IETF's request, Adobe has provided a means whereby 
third parties may submit candidate extensions to TIFF that-if 
approved-would bring TIFF FX within the scope of Adobe's existing 
license grant. Adobe does not have the IP rights to include these 
extensions unilaterally.  And this mechanism has yet to be utilized. 
Further, Adobe has participated in recent IETF interoperability 
discussions that may result in splitting TIFF FX into two standards: 
one with existing interoperability that can be progressed rapidly and 
has the side effect of being in scope of the Adobe license, and one 
that lacks both interoperability and being in-scope of Adobe's 
license. This would imply deferring publication/adoption of the 
latter parts. Other options are certainly possible.

I am committed to work with the groups involved to explore these and 
other options.

Sincerely,

Scott Foshee

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