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News Release from: The Modbus-IDA
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 26 April 2004
Schneider signs over rights to Modbus
In a dramatic move signalling its dedication to the openness of the Modbus protocol, Schneider Electric has transferred its copyright in the protocol to Modbus-IDA.
In a dramatic move signalling its dedication to the openness of the Modbus protocol, Schneider Electric has transferred its copyright in the protocol to Modbus-IDA, a nonprofit organisation formed in 2002 to advance industrial communications Modbus was originally developed in 1979 by Modicon, which later became part of Schneider Automation, and is now the most popular industrial protocol in the world
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 15 Apr 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The agreement which was signed by Schneider Automation and Ken Crater, President of Modbus-IDA, transferred the protocol to the organisation, including the entire "right, title and interest" in the protocol copyright on 12th April 2004, and publicly announced at the Hanover Fair trade show in Germany.
According to Crater: "This transfer establishes a milestone in the inevitable migration of our industry toward open protocols.
It's only fitting that the most widely implemented protocol on the industrial landscape is now in the hands of a nonprofit organisation committed to its further proliferation and evolution".
Crater revealed the organisation's intention to pursue international standardisation for the protocol in the near future.
Jean-Jacques Poubeau, VP of Schneider Electric stated: "By transferring the Modbus protocol rights to Modbus-IDA, a non-profit and independent organisation, Schneider Electric demonstrates its willingness to move toward really open systems and architectures based on open standards and vendor-independent protocols.
The association of Modbus protocol with a standard Ethernet TCP-IP stack makes available the first really open and vendor independent industrial Ethernet solution".
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