Standard of HTML

HTML is a standard dictated by browser vendors -- not an independent body. That seems to be the message from the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG), which last week announced that it would be dropping version numbering from the HTML specification once work on HTML5 is complete. Henceforth, HTML will become a "living standard," with the most current version of the specification being the one maintained on the group's website. In other words, the standard is whatever WHATWG says it is this week.