Such an integrated approach makes it more difficult for nonproprietary software to use Windows capabilities, a feature that has been an issue in antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft.
Google, on the other hand, wants smartphones to have open, nonproprietary platforms so users can freely roam the Web for apps that work on many devices.
And then there is what I call the "fourth quadrant": the space of collaborative, nonproprietary innovation, exemplified in recent years by the Internet and the Web, two groundbreaking innovations not owned by anyone.
Governments like Brazil's that have forsworn further involvement with American Internet companies could adopt such nonproprietary equipment designs and have them manufactured locally, free from any N.S.A. interference.
One of the measure's drawbacks is that losses incurred from nonproprietary trades could reduce a bank's Sharpe ratio, producing what is known as a "false positive".
ING reports that only 6 of the 21 largest target-date funds now use nonproprietary funds.
So that banks can continue to serve customers, the law instructs regulators to allow certain forms of nonproprietary trading, including "market making," in which banks can buy and sell securities, but only for the purpose of facilitating transactions for clients.
STILL, most analysts say Kodak must move beyond low-margin, nonproprietary offerings like digital cameras and digitization services to earn real money in this arena.
The base model of Dell's new machine uses a version of the nonproprietary Ubuntu operating system (a $399 model has Windows XP Home).
Company executives said that they saw huge opportunities for Dell in the server market, where customers are increasingly choosing nonproprietary systems, like those sold by Dell, rather than Unix-based proprietary systems.
Mr. de Ferrari of the General Accounting Office said that adhering to XML, a nonproprietary technology, would open the market to many software vendors.
