Uniform Fee Only (UFO) = Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (RAND)

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RAND: Free Software Not Allowed

When the work of standardisation bodies is encumbered by patents and dominated by corporate patent lawyers, the only way to get a usable standard published is to combine it with a licensing cartel. The deal is: you as a patent owner get an assured stream of revenue. If you agree, the standard may start to fly. If you don't agree, you may get nothing at all. In order to make the standards fly, the conditions need to be acceptable to all patent owners and to many players. Under these constraints the result is usually a uniform-fee-only regime. Application developpers pay a lumpsum + a fee for each copy which they sell. This implies that they must restrict circulation and track the copies that circulate and disclose them (including their customer database) to the patent owners. These conditions are harsh, but better than having no standard at all. The result of course that free/opensource software is out and even shareware may not be allowed.