John Messing posted a link and abstract to a recent patent covering "legality expression". I wonder if anybody on the list has heard of this one or has any idea what it is supposed to cover and how relevent it is (or isn't) to this TC (or LegalXML in general). On the topic, I came upon an interesting phrase after scrolling through the claims at random. It seems to provide a mechanism for contracts language to "override" other laws (in the example given, the contract appears to trump an export law prohibiting sales of a Monkees episode). My burning question is: what the heck is that episode about and why was it prohibited for export? And also, why would the PTO grant a patent to technology that enables contracts to trump law when that violates basic jurisprudence of the USA and other common law countries? I include the snip from the patent below.

Regarding the TC, I suggest it is time for some closure on the structural markup proposal. So, I would like to solicit comments or ideas on how and when to achieve an votable submission on structural markup. To get the ball rolling, here is one idea: that the subcommittee submit to the whole TC whatever it has agreed upon and whatever it has not (ideally, in the form of options) and that the TC appoint another group to cobble together a draft based on that submission. While the other group will not be as familiar with the problems and prospects, at least it will have fresh eyes and a deadline. The TC as a whole will then have a chance to debate, amend as needed, and finally vote upon a bounded and complete proposal.

Also - can somebody please e-mail me with an update on the status of the Requirements Document? Rolly? Others?

Thanks, - Dan Greenwood

[0260] In an exemplary embodiment, a contract that overrides the law, for example, can be given by:

[0261] "a) Amazon may sell `The Monkees` episodes,

[0262] b) All sales of `The Monkees. The Time Machine` episode outside of the U.S. are prohibited,

[0263] c) Amazon chooses to sell the episode outside of the U.S."

[0264] Accordingly, it is a policy of Amazon that the clause 212 for selling "The Monkees" episodes is preferable to the clause 212 for banning sales of "The Monkees: The Time Machine" episode outside of the U.S. The exemplary policy/claim combination can be expressed using the exemplary Contract Expression Language, for example, as given by:

32 <policy> <claim> <clause licenseIdRef="licenseForSellingTheMonkeesEpsisodes"/> <precede/> <clause licenseIdRef="interdictForSellingTheM- onkees-TheTimeMachineEpsisode"/> </claim> +<signer licensePartId="Amazon"> </policy>