nanoTITAN announces nanoML early access release
from the NT-design-tools dept.
Rob Bishop writes "nanoTITAN, Inc. is pleased to announce the first early access release of nanoML, a markup language for the description and interchange of nanodevices. nanoML includes the molecular components and structure of a nanodevice — as you might expect — but goes well beyond that to include information about the properties, interoperability, operational characteristics, display, safety, and legal status of nanodevices.
It is our hope that nanoML will accelerate development of molecular nanotechnology by providing a common language for researchers, engineers and other interested parties. Our commitment is to evolve nanoML consistent with the needs of the nanotechnology community and to move toward an open standard. We would greatly appreciate a review of our work so far by the knowledgeable readers of nanodot.
More information can be found at:
- nanoTITAN Home Page
- nanoML Product Page
- nanoML FAQ
- nanoML Early Access Program (for access to documentation and the schema)"
July 18th, 2001 at 6:51 AM
Tell ya what, guys…
I'll register for your "early access" program, and give you my real name, just as soon as you post the names and contact information for your officers and principal investors on your Web site.
… and I'll think about contributing to improving your product as soon as you legally bind yourselves to make those contributions available to the public, forever, without charge. Vague assurances about "open standards" (whatever that means) don't count.
If you're not prepared to do that, I'm afraid you're going to have to pay for consulting like everybody else.
July 18th, 2001 at 3:31 PM
Indeed
While I might not be as quick as jbash to suspect the worst in this case, there's enough community experience around here with vague commitments to "openness" proving in the end to be, basically, lies, that it pays us to be cautious. It might behoove the folks at nanoTITAN (who comes up with these names anyway?) to be a bit more explicit about their IP intentions.
In particular, I'm becoming increasingly concerned about the ways I see XML being used, with companies trying to use copyright to a DTD as a lever to assert IP control over data expressed using that DTD, for example claiming that anyone who produces software that reads or writes that data format owes you a license fee (essentially, claiming that because you wrote a grammar, you are entitled to some form of rights to all sentences written in that grammar). A direct disclaimer of any such intentions would be a good thing here.