Comment Articles

West Wing meets Web services

Published: 23 Apr 2002 16:14 BST

The basic themes are the same: major parties are vying for power, political intrigue is rampant, money talks, and dominant players try to use their clout to get what they want. Similarly, the constituents (or customers) are more confused than ever by the escalating tenor of the rhetoric and the complexity of the issues.

In the current controversy around Web services standards, IBM, Microsoft, Sun and others are up to their ears in manoeuvring for control and political leverage.

Each party has a specific agenda. For Microsoft, having some control over Web services protocols is a way to extend its dominant Windows and .Net platforms deeper into the fabric of the Internet. For IBM, exerting more control over Web services standards provides a way to add to its already lucrative patent portfolio and to frustrate Sun, one of its chief hardware competitors and the progenitor of Java. Sun, as well as companies like Apple and Hewlett-Packard, is hoping to keep IBM and Microsoft from taking control of key Internet protocols and to create a more level playing field.

IBM and Microsoft are doing what comes naturally -- angling to establish intellectual property rights and patents that would give them an advantage over competitors. They have the legal and engineering resources, as well as the economic incentive, to shift the balance of power. After all, the giant companies become giants by developing proprietary solutions that often include barriers to entry. Altruism is not a quality that would describe the builders of commercial or digital solutions in any market sector.

Yet, the evolution of the Internet at its core levels requires a kind of altruism and cooperation to ensure continued innovation that favours the whole and not the few. Like the telephone or airline systems, there are many points along which value for services can be extracted to benefit the supplier and the customer. The question is at what point in a stack of protocols and standards does value extraction conflict with creating viable options for customers and impede innovation?