RE: RSA, PGP IN LEGAL FLAP OVER ENCRYPTION TECHNOLOGY

This really came as no surprise to anyone who deals with RSA. Note I am only talking for myself when I write this, but there is a LOT of money to be made by someone (certicom?) if they can give a cross-platform rsa type solution. I mean RSA has a fairly good product,but I can name at elase two other companies who've had this exact same problem with cross-licensing. Really, does RSA expect Netscape or Microsoft to re-license every time they allow an oem to repackage thier products into or as part of a suite of programs with a third party vendor? RSA has a bunch of bullies at thier helm. They should realize that pulling this kind of crap will only make people jump ship faster when another company comes calling with a similar product and less restrictive licensing. I think that RSA should also realize that without PGP, their market would be much smaller, I think every time RSA licenses thier (now renewed) patents, they should think of Phil. I don't mean to saint the guy here or anything, but they owe him a debt that is difficult to quantify. By suing PGP they are basically saying , if I can extrapolate in a rather extreme manner, "privacy is okay, but only if we make money at it." And keep in mind , I don't begrudge RSA thier right to make money off thier intellectual property, but suing your customers except in the most extreme situations should be seen as a warning sign to the industry that to deal with RSA as a vendor is to take a risk that may be dangerous. Chris DiBona dibona@acm.org

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- In <01BC5ED2.4E86C710@marmoset.loc201.tandem.com>, on 05/12/97 at 12:45 PM, Chris DiBona <dibona@acm.org> said:
I think that RSA should also realize that without PGP, their market would be much smaller, I think every time RSA licenses thier (now renewed) patents, they should think of Phil. I don't mean to saint the guy here or anything, but they owe him a debt that is difficult to quantify. By suing PGP they are basically saying , if I can extrapolate in a rather extreme manner, "privacy is okay, but only if we make money at it."
I would extrapolate a little different: "thanks Phil for putting us on the map, now bend over and grab your ankles" - -- - ----------------------------------------------------------- William H. Geiger III http://www.amaranth.com/~whgiii Geiger Consulting Cooking With Warp 4.0 Author of E-Secure - PGP Front End for MR/2 Ice PGP & MR/2 the only way for secure e-mail. Finger whgiii@amaranth.com for PGP Key and other info - ----------------------------------------------------------- Tag-O-Matic: Double your drive space! Delete Windows! -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 Comment: Registered User E-Secure v1.1 ES000000 iQCVAwUBM3ez3I9Co1n+aLhhAQFGJQP/X7hiUPZaiQaud10Jlbc/YqJ1IL+nABwR PuHTKX5rGm08qA6bbvHbK9mJbdJp/7rddF9PGQYqRP11ql5FqSGqqZxXLfjspIsO LKDCYNh3lFta/Z5J7HLgO/Ch4P1MjtlEGKUSqRS+oKVeXKfsJEI35Wf1aF4jAhzI DOeBaMylmQo= =azRs -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
participants (2)
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Chris DiBona
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William H. Geiger III