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Standards
The bane and beauty of the term “standard” is that it can be used in so many ways.
In the Web development world, for example, “standards” refer to things like HTML, CSS, and the DOM. Organizations like the Web Standards Project have made it their purpose to educate the developers and users of the Web itself on the importance of them.
Unless you’re a fan of nuance and granular detail, the issue can be mind-numbingly dull. Thankfully, Steve Champeon—a co-founder of the WaSP—has put together a PowerPoint-esque presentation that clarifies it all. And to prove the power of his argument, the whole thing is standards-compliant, and degrades gracefully. (You can also watch Champeon do the presentation.)
Standards also evolve, as is the case with creative work in the digital age. Napster has become an infamous example of the fight over copyright.
In an effort to avoid such problems in, Lawrence Lessig is putting together a service called Creative Commons. The goal is to offer flexible, customizable intellectual-property licenses designed specifically for digital work that bridge the gap between full copyright and open source.
Finally, there are standard assumptions, like this article: “Canada Has a Warship? Like for War?”