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RE: lynx-dev Re: SSL-enhanced Lynx


From: Terry Rudy
Subject: RE: lynx-dev Re: SSL-enhanced Lynx
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 10:06:58 -0700

thanks for the help on this.  I appreciate it.
-terry

-----Original Message-----
From: David Woolley [mailto:address@hidden
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 1999 12:12 AM
To: address@hidden
Cc: Terry Rudy
Subject: Re: lynx-dev Re: SSL-enhanced Lynx


> 
> On Mon, Jun 14, 1999 at 03:34:25PM -0700, Terry Rudy wrote:
> > Hi there - sorry to bother you but I am in QA for Microsoft's Hotmail
and I
> > am trying to track down an SSL-enhanced version of Lynx to test against
a
> > new SSL-enabled Hotmail release.  I don't see any pre-built version

It is a breach of copyright to supply anyone with any version of Lynx
amended to include code subject to royalties (for any class of user).
SSL relies on RSA which is subject to such royalties in the USA; moreover,
the RSA library used to create SSL versions of Lynx in the USA (RSAREF)
is not permitted to be used for commercial purposes (one must licence
BSAFE(?)).  It is a breach of the patent, in the USA, to use the RSA
parts of the library used in the rest of the world (SSLeay).

The copyright constraint exists because Lynx is licensed under the
Free Software Foundation's GPL, and that license requires that the
software be unrestricted, and specifically mentions patent royalties
as something that would invalidate this and make the licence's permission
to distribute a derived work void.

As you work for Microsoft, I think that your use would count as
commercial; on the other hand, you already have relations with the patent
owners, so you may be able to negotiate terms for using their intellectual
property (there may also be exemptions under patent law for this type of
evaluation - although they would be there to permit evaluation of the
patented technology, not a product using it).  You will, though, need
to build the binary from the royalty free Lynx source and independently
obtained patented source.

I think it is fairly safe to assume that Microsoft are amongst the prime
movers in encouraging the US government to encourage foreign governments
to also introduce software patents.

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