[antitrust-policy] Should the IETF allow discussion of licensing costs

[Russ Housley <[e-mail]>]

>>  - discuss licensing costs of essential patent claims associated with
>>    different technical approaches;

This point in the strawman has lead to a disagreement.  Some say that this should not be allowed, and they point to the policies of other SDOs that prohibit it.  On the other side of this issue, Jorge points out that these SDOs are being very conservative, and he says that it is not prohibited by current antitrust and competitive laws.

This leads me to a question: Does the IETF need to be able to include discussion of licensing costs?  In other words, is it sufficient to distinguish between 'royalty free' and 'not royalty free'?

Russ