WAP - The Patent Problem Neda Communications, Inc. May 3, 2000 Alternative Formats This document is available in several alternative formats at the Free Protocols Foundation website (http://www.FreeProtocols.org/wapTrap): - ONE-HTML: Displays the entire document as a single web page. - SPLIT-HTML: Displays the document as a set of linked web pages, starting from the Table of Con- tents. - PDF: Provides the document in Adobe Acrobat for- mat. Note that the Adobe Acrobat Reader is re- quired to read this format. The Acrobat Reader can be downloaded from the Adobe website. - PS: Provides the document in PostScript format for printing. - Text Only: Provides the document in text-only for- mat. 1 Background The Wireless Application Protocol, or WAP, is a spec- ification for wireless data communications using hand- held devices such as mobile phones and palmtop comput- ers. Use of the WAP specification allows mobile devices to communicate with the Internet or an intranet, provid- ing the users of these devices with mobile data commu- nications capabilities such as web-browsing and e-mail. The WAP specification was developed by the WAP Forum, an industry association of wireless device manu- facturers, service providers, and software companies. For more information see the WAP Forum website at http://www.wapforum.org/. 1 2 WAP is not Patent-Free WAP is being aggressively marketed by the WAP Fo- rum as an open, license-free standard for wireless Inter- net access. However, WAP's viability as a standard is seriously compromised by a number of software patent restrictions. These include patents held by certain mem- bers of the WAP Forum itself, most notably Phone.com and Geoworks. Patent infringement claims have already been made by the holders of the following patents: - U.S. Patent # 5,327,529 (Geoworks) - U.S. Patent # 5,809,415 (Phone.com) An essential attribute of an industry protocol is that there must be no restrictions on its usage. In particular, there must be no patent restrictions on the use of the pro- tocol. The inclusion of patents in a protocol entirely cor- rupts its viability as a standard. A patent provides the patent-holder with a sustained and unfair market advan- tage. The losers are the industry as a whole, small com- panies, and the consumer. The WAP Forum members know all of this as well as anyone. They are also surely well aware of the pro- cesses that can be used to ensure a patent-free result, and of the diligence commonly exercised elsewhere in the In- ternet community to work towards patent-free software and protocols. Yet in spite of this the WAP Forum has created a patented protocol. This can only be because of deliber- ate intentionality on the part of the WAP Forum. They have used a fraudulent process to create a protocol which includes their own patents, and which they are now at- tempting to foist upon the industry at large. 3 Other Problems In addition to being hobbled with patent restrictions, WAP also suffers from a number of other problems. 3.1 Technical Design Errors The WAP specification includes numerous serious techni- cal deficiencies. Many of these stem from a fundamental strategic design decision made early in the development 2 process. Rather than treating cell phones as generic Inter- net host devices, the WAP Forum has opted to treat them as a unique special case. This has led them to develop an entirely new set of protocols, analogous to, but largely incompatible with, the existing Internet architecture. For a detailed description of the design errors result- ing from this, see the following articles: - W* Effect Considered Harmful. Available at http://www.4K- Associates.com/4K-Associates/IEEE-L7-WAP-BIG.html. - Attacks against the WAP WTLS Protocol. Available at http://www.jyu.fi/ mjos/wtls.pdf - The WAP Trap. Available at http://www.freeProtocols.org/wapTrap. 3.2 Not Open in Terms of Development and Maintenance The WAP specification has been developed by and re- mains under the exclusive control of the WAP Forum. Only WAP Forum members may participate in its devel- opment and maintenance. Given the WAP Forum's large membership fees, membership is unaffordable by most small businesses, and virtually all academic institutions. There is therefore no assurance that WAP is subjected to adequate technical review, or that it represents the in- terests of the entire data communications community. 3.3 Not RFC Published RFC publication of a protocol ensures its free, unrestricted and permanent availability. However, rather than being published as an RFC, the WAP specifications are self- published by the WAP Forum. The WAP specifications therefore do not carry these same assurances of free and permanent availability. Also, the WAP Forum does not guarantee the stability of its specifications, reserving the right to change them without notice. 3.4 Not Generic Internet Access There is a general perception that WAP will make the en- tire Internet content accessible via cell phone, just as it currently is via a conventional ISP. In order for a WAP device to retrieve information from a website, however, 3 the site must have a WAP-enabled server, programmed to deliver the website content to the cell phone. So if a par- ticular website is not WAP-enabled, it will probably not be available via cell phone. 3.5 Limited Web Browsing Capabilities Use of the WAP specification to access web content re- quires the use of WAP gateways, operate by the Service Provider. This places a layer of control and authority between the creator and consumer of website content, greatly diminishing the potential for unrestricted and or- ganic growth of the Internet. 4 Conclusion The WAP specification is entirely unfit for the purpose being claimed for it. It is the result of a closed design process, remains tightly controlled by the WAP Forum, is crippled by patents, and is riddled with technical design errors. Our conclusion is that the WAP specification is a bo- gus marketing construct, rather than a genuine engineer- ing one. It is designed to provide short-term financial benefit to a minority of the WAP Forum members, rather than providing long-term benefit to the industry at large and the consumer. 4