I was reading your article and discussion on Pantone,
http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/10/25/153221

"Over the years, I've observed that for every favorable review written about the GIMP or other free graphics applications, there is another review denouncing it as useless because "it doesn't support Pantone." Although I've accepted this is how the universe works, it's worth noting that the unfavorable articles are generally accompanied by some misconceptions about what Pantone is and isn't used for, and the legality of supporting it."

"Think back to that Photoshop color chooser. It presents a list of numbered colors; when you select one, Photoshop changes the active "painting color" to an RGB value that is as close a match as possible. "If that's all that happens," we wonder, "can't the GIMP, Inkscape, and Scribus do the same?"

"In theory, yes. If you search the Web, you can find homemade colors and palettes for many graphics apps that refer back to the Pantone numbers. The holdup is that an application that packages or ships a color palette derived from the Pantone swatches runs the risk of legal action from Pantone."

"Pantone would claim that its collection of color swatches as a whole constitutes a "database" which could be copyrighted"

I agree.. Pantone is holding up the world from using the correct color wheel. I have a new and better swatch book.
It's a new industry. The information is free. You can print out your own swatch book, I will print my version for sale.

Here is the skeleton of the Real Color Wheel in table form.
http://www.realcolorwheel.com/rcwchart.htm

I'm going to "just do it" because the Pantone color wheel system is just wrong following the RGB colors and I can fix it.

This Real Color Wheel (RCW) is not compatible with Pantone, it make darks using opposit colors instead of just adding black which converts to subtracting light.

Pantone uses opaque black pigment to generate colors.
The Real Color Wheel uses transparent opposite colors to mix down to dark first.  Black is an independent pigment color not mixed with other pigments. I chose 36 main colors for artists and it covers my printing work. It easily locates all tube and chip colors for artists, paint makers and printers. and gives their volume percentages. The RCW uses PB15.3 cyan, PR122 magenta and PY153, PY150, PY100 for painting and printing. Opaque Black is also used in printing where the lower gamut colors in the painting or image can't be recorded. Black is not needed by the artist as the transparent colors make unique darks right up to the black point.
http://www.realcolorwheel.com/3colors.htm

An RCW chart book makes ink mixtures with percentages, the same percentages used to make all colors by the artists.  Equal amounts of any opposite transparent colors pigments will make darks right up to a neutral gray or black. For printers, my tests were successful when printing with Azo Tartrazine PY100 transparent yellow ink. Opaque yellow ink will work but it has a higher darkest value and you have to use more black in the darkest hues.

It is accurate for the artist or sales person mixing the paint color or the printer matching the spot ink color. There is a dark point of each color where black is added in photos.

The only reason the printer can the Pantone swatch book is to match CMYK to the spot color that includes black. The RCW is CMYK colors in RGB format for the graphic artist. In CMYK there are no out of gamut RGB colors. Printed pure colors are accurate as well as each pure colors darker color.

The RCW swatch book color names relate to the colors position on the RCW, the printer/artist code would be pigment percentages which would also available from the colors position on the RCW.  The art director and the printer use the same swatch book.

http://www.realcolorwheel.com/colorwheel.htm

There is an interactive image of this swatch book at the bottom of this link.
http://www.realcolorwheel.com/end.htm