# $Id: PATENTS,v 1.4 2000/08/17 09:46:20 proff Exp $ # $Smallcopyright:$ Some of the ciphers used by Rubberhose fall under algorithmic patents. These patents are invoked with royalties due under certain conditions: 1) The cipher is one of IDEA or RC5. AND 2) The cipher is used for a commercial purpose (although see how Ascom defines ``commercial purpose''). AND 3) The cipher is IDEA and is used in the United States, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland or Japan (patent pending only for Japan as of the time of writing). OR 4) The cipher is RC5 and is used in the United States. Details on how to obtain an end-user license for IDEA and RC5 are at the end of this document. There is also a potential issue for those in the USA surrounding RC2 and RC4 (although probably not my 16 bit `RC4-like' cipher RC16). Both of these two cipher's were developed by Rivest. They became trade-secrets of RSA (the company), but were NEVER PATENTED. In Sept 1994 an Anonymous poster using the non-de-plume `David Sterndark' (David Sternlight was/is a popularly detested retired conservative poster to sci.crypt) publicly posted C source code for the RC4 algorithm. RSA immediately issued a strongly worded statement claiming that the RC4 algorithm was a `trade-secret'. However, the understanding I and and other people have of US trade-secret law is that it only applies to those who have a duty to keep trade-secrets secret (i.e RSA employees or contractors working under an NDA). The conjecture is that the cipher was reverse-engineered from object code by someone who was not an RSA employee (i.e someone who had no duty to keep RSA trade-secrets secret) rather than leaked from an internal source (or taken from RSA development machines by a hacker). RSA have huffed-and-puffed stating that their BSAFE (the RSA crypto-library) license makes reverse-engineering verboten. However it doesn't necessarily follow that merely because someone broke an anti-reverse-engineering license clause (which might not be valid anyway) that everyone else who hears (in good faith) a description of the algorithm is `in-receipt of stolen goods'. And it's entirely possible that the reverse-engineer was not held to any such license. RSA, for their part (publicly) seem to have no-idea who David Sterndark is and haven't been able to show that Sterndark was under any sort of trade-secret obligation. The same situation applies to RC2, which was posted publicly in Feb 1996. IDEA: The IDEA algorithm is patented by Ascom Systec Ltd. of CH-5506 Maegenwil, Switzerland, who allow it to be used on a royalty-free basis for certain non-profit applications. Commercial users must obtain a license from the company in order to use IDEA. IDEA may be used on a royalty-free basis under the following conditions: Free use for private purposes: The free use of software containing the algorithm is strictly limited to non revenue generating data transfer between private individuals, ie not serving commercial purposes. Requests by freeware developers to obtain a royalty-free license to spread an application program containing the algorithm for non-commercial purposes must be directed to Ascom. Special offer for shareware developers: There is a special waiver for shareware developers. Such waiver eliminates the upfront fees as well as royalties for the first US$10,000 gross sales of a product containing the algorithm if and only if: 1. The product is being sold for a minimum of US$10 and a maximum of US$50. 2. The source code for the shareware is available to the public. Special conditions for research projects: The use of the algorithm in research projects is free provided that it serves the purpose of such project and within the project duration. Any use of the algorithm after the termination of a project including activities resulting from a project and for purposes not directly related to the project requires a license. Ascom Tech requires the following notice to be included for freeware products: This software product contains the IDEA algorithm as described and claimed in US patent 5,214,703, EPO patent 0482154 (covering Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK), and Japanese patent application 508119/1991, "Device for the conversion of a digital block and use of same" (hereinafter referred to as "the algorithm"). Any use of the algorithm for commercial purposes is thus subject to a license from Ascom Systec Ltd. of CH-5506 Maegenwil (Switzerland), being the patentee and sole owner of all rights, including the trademark IDEA. Commercial purposes shall mean any revenue generating purpose including but not limited to: i) Using the algorithm for company internal purposes (subject to a site license). ii) Incorporating the algorithm into any software and distributing such software and/or providing services relating thereto to others (subject to a product license). iii) Using a product containing the algorithm not covered by an IDEA license (subject to an end user license). All such end user license agreements are available exclusively from Ascom Systec Ltd and may be requested via the WWW at http://www.ascom.ch/systec or by email to idea@ascom.ch. Use other than for commercial purposes is strictly limited to non-revenue generating data transfer between private individuals. The use by government agencies, non-profit organizations, etc is considered as use for commercial purposes but may be subject to special conditions. Any misuse will be prosecuted. RC5: The RC5 algorithm is patented by RSA Data Security Inc. 100 Marine Parkway, Redwoord City, California 94065, ph.+1 415 595-8782, fax +1 415 595-1873, and cannot be used commercially in the US without a license without violating the RC5 patent. -- Prof. Julian Assange |If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people |together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks proff@iq.org |and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless proff@gnu.ai.mit.edu |immensity of the sea. -- Antoine de Saint Exupery