ABSTRACT
Standards are vitally important to computer software markets, and there are two basic ways in which standards may be created and adopted. The first is by competition among proprietary standards. Under this model, the law creates property rights in technology and assigns them to the technology’s creator, who therefore has the economic incentive to promote the technology as a standard. The owner of that technology takes responsibility for developing it to a marketable stage, persuading other firms and consumers to adopt it, and improving it over time. The standard is established through the purchasing decisions in a market, rather than through the choice of a standards-setting organization.
