Nobody's to own

A specification is only useful if everyone can rely on it staying open, stable and neutral.

Licence

CC BY 4.0 — free to implement, forever. Implementers pay nothing.

Holder

PTPGE, a non-profit association being formed in Oslo, holds the specification and everything a specification needs to stay whole: the vocabulary, the identity method, the public registers (the fingerprint register at ptpge.org/f and the register of identities — suppliers and vendors), the ptpge.* domains and the PTPGE mark. Members govern it; implementers pay nothing. For the time being, the specification is stewarded by Tangerin AS, the operator of ptpge.org, under the same licence — until the association is registered.

The association

PTPGE is being formed as a non-profit association this autumn. Its purpose is narrow on purpose: keep the specification and its registers open under CC BY 4.0, fund the editor who maintains it, and make sure no single company can ever own it. The statutes lock the licence, the name, the domains and the PTPGE mark; no single company holds a majority of the board.

Stewardship

Proposals and claims from suppliers and partners are staged for review. Changes are additive and dated; nothing published is ever removed, only superseded.

Industry bodies

The specification is offered to the industry's own bodies for adoption.

Funding

The association will be funded by its partners and members — never by the specification, which is free to implement.

Founding partners

The specification is free; maintaining it is not. In early 2027 the association opens a first round of Founding Partners — companies in the print value chain who fund the work for its first years and sit at the table where the specification is governed — and Founding Associations — industry bodies that join without fee, with an advisory seat, and open the specification to their members. If your company or association should be among the first: post@ptpge.org.

Contribute

Propose a term, report a miss, join as a steward: post@ptpge.org — or apply for a steward key.