RSS 2.0 Spec Under Creative Commons License

UserLand Software is transferring all right, title and interest in the RSS 2.0 specification to the Berkman Center, and we are re-releasing it, verbatim, to the public via Creative Commons' Attribution/ ShareAlike license. "We believe that this simple, elegant step is an important one toward eliminating some of the fractiousness that has befallen the debate over the future of the RSS format," said Berkman Center Executive Director John Palfrey. Further details are available here; also see Nonprofit Takes Hold of Blog Tool, by Lisa Bowman @ CNET.

Dan Gillmor: "The debate over the future of the RSS--the 'Really Simple Syndication' format that has helped turn weblogs into harbingers of a powerful information future--has been fascinating and, in ways, dispiriting to this distant observer.

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Plainly, this move won't cause peace to suddenly break out in the RSS format war. But equally plainly, this looks like a positive step toward some resolution of a dispute where personal pique has threatened to derail entirely appropriate professional and technological debates."

Chuq Von Rospach: "Dave's transferred control of RSS 2.0 to a neutral party. He maintains some say over it's future directions, but it's no longer a Dave/Userland production. It's now a community property, as I think it should be."