Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 07:02:46 +0100 From: Brian Somers <brian@Awfulhak.org> To: Garrett Wollman <wollman@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu> Cc: Brian Somers <brian@Awfulhak.org>, Archie Cobbs <archie@FreeBSD.org>, cvs-committers@FreeBSD.org, cvs-all@FreeBSD.org, brian@hak.lan.Awfulhak.org Subject: Re: cvs commit: src/sys/netgraph ng_mppc.c ng_mppc.h Message-ID: <200004100602.HAA03428@hak.lan.Awfulhak.org> In-Reply-To: Message from Garrett Wollman <wollman@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu> of "Sun, 09 Apr 2000 20:57:34 EDT." <200004100057.UAA46333@khavrinen.lcs.mit.edu>
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> <<On Mon, 10 Apr 2000 00:45:50 +0100, Brian Somers <brian@Awfulhak.org> said:
>
> > What's the issue here ? I *think* it's alright to write mppc from
> > scratch - in fact, that's what I'm doing as we speak.
>
> The compression algorithm is patented.
>
> > MPPC can only be used in products that implement the Point to Point
> > Protocol AND for the sole purpose of interoperating with other MPPC
> > and Point to Point Protocol implementations.
>
> This paragraph, unfortunately, does not explicitly state that you can
> practice the compression process without a specific license.
But does this not apply (from rfc1602) ?:
5.4.1. All Contributions
By submission of a contribution to ISOC, and in consideration
of possible dissemination of the contribution to the Internet
community, a contributor is deemed to agree to the following
terms and conditions:
l. Contributor agrees to grant, and does grant to ISOC, a
perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free, world-wide right
and license under any copyrights in the contribution to
reproduce, distribute, perform or display publicly and
prepare derivative works that are based on or incorporate
all or part of the contribution, and to reproduce,
distribute and perform or display publicly any such
derivative works, in any form and in all languages, and to
authorize others to do so.
My understanding is that even if they've patented MPPC, the fact that
it's an rfc that doesn't explicitly state that you can't implement it
implies that M$ have already granted me the right to write the code
and publish it.
> -GAWollman
>
> --
> Garrett A. Wollman | O Siem / We are all family / O Siem / We're all the same
> wollman@lcs.mit.edu | O Siem / The fires of freedom
> Opinions not those of| Dance in the burning flame
> MIT, LCS, CRS, or NSA| - Susan Aglukark and Chad Irschick
--
Brian <brian@Awfulhak.org> <brian@[uk.]FreeBSD.org>
<http://www.Awfulhak.org>; <brian@[uk.]OpenBSD.org>
Don't _EVER_ lose your sense of humour !
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