I'm sorry if I was a little mysterious about my reference to another use or mode of a DC-net; I'd _love_ to tell the rest of you flat-out, and put the idea in the public domain, but I'm not sure I _CAN_. (All of this is only relevant, however, if noone else has thought of it first; I think this is unlikely at the moment, as it would mandate a large rewriting of the section on DC-nets in the cyphernomicon. On the other hand, I'm kinda suprised that noone else has thought of this.) Anyway, I just have this awful feeling that if I post this, there's going to be a stupid patent application filed by someone like Jim Bidzos claiming this and I won't be able to do anything about it. (Please note I mean the people _like_ Jim Bidzos and not Jim Bidzos himself; he's merely an example of someone who has a lot of capital to spend on software patents. I don't, and don't mean to say that _he_ goes around stealing ideas from other people and patenting them.) How do I do this and protect myself from the people who do have the money to go through the intellectual property courthouse game? Should I just dump this in the public domain? Perhaps show it to a trusted individual (or two) on this list to look at and see whether it is worth further development (perhaps not?)? Are there any patents on Dining-Cryptographers networks that could interfere with the placing in the public domain, or the patenting, of an improvement to the network system? I need help. Phil +----------------+Quote from _Infinite In All Directions_, F.J. Dyson-----+ | Phil Fraering / \"The English Hierarchy, if there be anything unsound in| | pgf@tyrell.net\ /its constitution, has reason to tremble even at an air | +----------------+-pump or an electrical machine."---Joseph Priestly------+