Subject: Re: DEPLOY/IPR: Fundamental Disagreements, or Get On With It

From: Kevin Peuhkurinen <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 10:09:57 -0400

Hello everyone.  I have been watching this thread for a while and just 
decided to voice my opinion.   My reasons for recommending the rejection 
of the IPR encumbered algorithm(s) are not due to my own interpretation 
of the license nor my feelings about the IPR holder but rather how the 
license will hurt the standard in the real world:

1. The IPR license will slow development

This license is not clear nor unambiguous.   If it were, you would not 
need to seek an attorney's advice on it.  I think this much we can all 
agree upon, including Mr. Katz himself.   This means that if I'm a 
developer who wishes to include Sender-ID in my open source product even 
if my attorney tells me that doing so is allowed under the license, and 
Lessig and Moglen themselves publish opinions saying that doing so is 
allowable, it does me no good if the IPR holder disagrees and sues me.  
It would be me and my attorney against a multi billion dollar company 
with a platoon of IP lawyers and an ambiguous license in question.    
Even if I am in the right, trying to fight such a suit in a different 
country on the other side of the continent would bankrupt me within 
weeks.   Why would any open source developer take this risk?

2. The IPR license will slow adoption

I think it is safe to say that at least half (and probably more) MTAs in 
use are open source.    Certainly most ISPs that I know of use open 
source MTAs.   I think it is also safe to say that a majority of people 
who deploy open source MTAs are probably at least somewhat suspicious of 
the motives and business tactics of your typical multi billion dollar 
software companies.   It is therefore likely that many of them will be 
slower to adopt Sender-ID if it is encumbered by this license (even if 
they do not themselves need to personally get a license from the holder) 
than otherwise.   Speaking personally as an MTA admin for a medium sized 
company, I will not adopt Sender-ID if it is encumbered by this 
license.    It may be argued that MTA admins will be forced by their 
management to adopt it eventually, but it will definitely slow down the 
process.

Obviously these are just my opinions.  IANAL, etc.   However, I don't 
think it would be easy to argue that the IPR license in any way benefits 
the standard nor can it be easily argued that the license will 
definitely do no harm to it.    I think the chairs need to decide 
whether the potential harm is less problematic than replacing the 
encumbered algorithms.

Kevin Peuhkurinen
Network Security Analyst
HEPCOE Credit Union Ltd.

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From: Kevin Peuhkurinen <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 10:09:57 -0400

Kevin Peuhkurinen
Network Security Analyst
HEPCOE Credit Union Ltd.