Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Public Invited Experts in the W3C HTML Working Group

What communications modes are available to W3C Working Groups?

A W3C Working Group may conduct its work in public, in "Member space", or both. Access to Member space, one of the benefits of W3C Membership, is available to any W3C Member employee. W3C also grants Member access to some Invited Experts (i.e., individuals not employed by a W3C Member) as described below.

A given Working Group, per its charter, may use both modes of communication. For instance, it may conduct its technical work in public, but conduct liason or administrative activities in Member space.In general, W3C Working Groups adopt one of the following communications modes, according to their needs and culture:

1. Both group internal communications and liaisons with other groups take place primarily in public.
2. Both group internal communications and liaisons with other groups take place primarily in Member space.
3. Group internal communications take place primarily in public, and the visibility of liaisons with other groups depends on the communications modes of those groups.

The HTML Working Group is the first type of group. Note that W3C does not currently use the terms "Public Working Group" and "Member Working Group" because there are at least three communications modes.

Do Invited Experts in the HTML Working Group have Member access?

No. They all have public access because the HTML Working Group is chartered to conduct its work entirely in public. W3C uses the term "Public Invited Expert" to describe the combination of Invited Expert participation and public access.

Note that, because an individual may participate in more than one W3C Working Group, that individual may have additional access privileges due to participation in another group.

Has W3C changed its Process for Invited Experts in the W3C HTML Working Group?

No. Per the W3C Process, the Chair(s) and Staff Contact for a group may invite "an individual with a particular expertise to participate in a Working Group."

For any W3C Working Group, the Staff Contact reviews each Invited Expert application. The criteria applied for the HTML Working Group differ somewhat than those applied for other W3C Working Groups. Specific technical expertise, though appreciated, is not an absolute requirement. The Staff Contact looks closely at the applicant's employment and business relationships. In particular, if an individual works for a Member organization, that individual will not be granted Invited Expert status. Instead, that individual should encourage their employer, a W3C Member, to join the HTML Working Group. See the policy for approval of Invited Experts for more information about criteria used by the W3C Staff when evaluating an Invited Expert application.

W3C HTML Working Group charter thus encourages wide participation. Although levels of technical expertise may vary among the Invited Experts, W3C believes that there are many people with relevant experience whose may make useful contributions, offer useful reviews, provide test cases, and connect W3C to diverse communities.

Is the W3C HTML Working Group approach to Invited Experts an exception?

Yes. While other groups have Public Invited Experts, no other group has, or encourages, the participation of as many. For this Working Group, W3C believes that the benefits of engaging a large community in this work is important to the deployment of the specification, and thus will benefit W3C as an organization, including all its Members and those who participate as Invited Experts.

Accordingly, the principle that "Public Invited status is not normally granted to individuals employed by organizations which have significant business interest in results from W3C" has been relaxed in the case of the W3C HTML Working Group.

Are other W3C Working Groups now required to follow the practice of the HTML Working Group?

No. Each Working Group has its own local culture, charter, and participation requirements.

If you are not seeking the same level of expertise from Invited Experts in the HTML Working Group, shouldn't you call them something else?

Perhaps. The W3C Staff is considering the implications of using another term. There would be costs as well as benefits to choosing a new term for a Group with this set of expectations about participation.

Did you consider a large public Interest Group for discussion and a smaller Working Group for specification development (as has been done for XML, DOM, and other groups)?

Yes, but that organization was not chosen for the March 2007 launch. W3C might still choose, after 6 to 18 months of experience, to reorganize the group.

I want to participate as an individual in the HTML Working Group but I work for a W3C Member. Why can't I join as an Invited Expert?

The primary reason has to do with the W3C Patent Policy, which promotes the creation of standards that may be implemented Royalty-Free. The W3C Patent Policy is most effective when W3C Members with patent portfolios participate. To participate, they agree to the Royalty-Free Licensing Requirements of the policy; individuals are much less likely to hold patents than organizations. The policy has gained broad support from W3C Members and public alike. Allowing individual participation by Member employees would undermine the intent of the policy, in turn eroding confidence in the ability to implement the standard on a Royalty-Free basis.

For additional information about the W3C Patent Policy, please refer to the Overview and Summary of W3C Patent Policy, discussion of the Business Benefits of the W3C Patent Policy, Patent Policy FAQ, and Patent Policy Fact Sheet (which has statistics about the policy in practice).

How does work in public have an impact on the value of W3C Membership?

It is likely that some organizations view work in public as a disincentive to join as a Member. However, even that perspective varies depending on the nature of the work. In the particular case of HTML, there was very significant support from the W3C Membership to conduct work on HTML in public. Furthermore, a large, supportive community around HTML increases the value of the W3C brand, which in turn improves the value proposition in other W3C Working Groups.

Why did you create public-html for the new Working Group, in addition to the existing www-html@w3.org?

www-html@w3.org remains active and will serve its original purpose: as a forum for discussion of HTML. Anyone may join that list.

W3C created a new public list to accompany the new operating mode of the Working Group under the W3C Patent Policy. It was easier (and less disruptive to the existing list) to create a new mailing list for discussions of the new group.