Why should anyone be able to nullify the entire value of another company just by implementing the spec they published?
Therefore, the patent system.
I'm sure somebody will try to claim "chilling effect" based on one of those "free" not being Free. But things are better than they've ever been from the point of view that matters most: getting stuff done, getting stuff published, and getting yourself heard without forcing your audience to install stuff first.
Some tiny royalty payment pre-paid by the platform doesn't destroy the experience. But forcing my mom to install some sketchy open source software with the wrong volume control UI then telling her to drag and drop my Happy Mother's Day video onto a traffic cone sure does.