nelson@bolyard.wpd.sgi.com (Nelson Bolyard) (06/22/91)
A short while back, someone posted an article in a whole bunch of
newsgroups, announcing a new piece of software called "Pretty Good Privacy".
The announcement said that binaries for the IBM PC would appear in c.b.i.p.
I've been watching and waiting since then to see if they are going to
appear.
If the "Pretty Good Privacy" software actually does what it's announcement
claims, then it would seem that users of "Pretty Good Privacy" would be
(possibly unknowing) infringers on certain patents. And, despite the
disclaimer in the announcement, it would seem that the person who originated
that software might be engaging in "contributory infringement".
My purpose in writing about this is *NOT* to start a big thread about
"software patents", and also it is certainly not to ask for a copy of the
"Pretty Good Privacy" program, but rather it is simply to ask, what
happened to it? Was is all a hoax? Did it ever get submitted to the
c.b.i.p moderator? Is it scheduled to be posted? Was the moderator asked
to supress it from c.b.i.p because of potential patent infringement
troubles?
Inquiring minds want to know!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nelson Bolyard nelson@sgi.COM {decwrl,sun}!sgi!whizzer!nelson
Disclaimer: Views expressed herein do not represent the views of my employer.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------davidsen@crdos1.crd.ge.COM (Wm E Davidsen Jr) (06/26/91)
In article <1991Jun22.023415.12914@odin.corp.sgi.com> nelson@bolyard.wpd.sgi.com (Nelson Bolyard) writes: | My purpose in writing about this is *NOT* to start a big thread about | "software patents", and also it is certainly not to ask for a copy of the | "Pretty Good Privacy" program, but rather it is simply to ask, what | happened to it? Was is all a hoax? Did it ever get submitted to the | c.b.i.p moderator? Is it scheduled to be posted? Was the moderator asked | to supress it from c.b.i.p because of potential patent infringement | troubles? As far as I can tell it was never submitted. I keep a record of anything I get, even if I reject it, and I see no evidence that I got it. If it was encryption software I would not post it because of the ban on exporting certain technology. And I bet the ftp sites in the US wouldn't carry it either, as was done with pkzip at one point. -- bill davidsen (davidsen@crdos1.crd.GE.COM -or- uunet!crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen) GE Corp R&D Center, Information Systems Operation, tech support group Moderator comp.binaries.ibm.pc and 386-users digest.
hugh@gargoyle.uchicago.edu (Hugh Miller) (06/26/91)
In <3473@crdos1.crd.ge.COM> davidsen@crdos1.crd.ge.COM (Wm E Davidsen Jr) writes: >In article <1991Jun22.023415.12914@odin.corp.sgi.com> nelson@bolyard.wpd.sgi.com (Nelson Bolyard) writes: >| My purpose in writing about this is *NOT* to start a big thread about >| "software patents", and also it is certainly not to ask for a copy of the >| "Pretty Good Privacy" program, but rather it is simply to ask, what >| happened to it? Was is all a hoax? Did it ever get submitted to the >| c.b.i.p moderator? Is it scheduled to be posted? Was the moderator asked >| to supress it from c.b.i.p because of potential patent infringement >| troubles? > As far as I can tell it was never submitted. I keep a record of >anything I get, even if I reject it, and I see no evidence that I got >it. If it was encryption software I would not post it because of the ban >on exporting certain technology. And I bet the ftp sites in the US >wouldn't carry it either, as was done with pkzip at one point. That's odd. I downloaded pgp from either this newsgroup or comp.sources (can't remember which & didn't save the headers). Two files: pgp10.zip (binaries) and pgp10src.zip (source code). They work fine. And why will you not post crypto programs when the folks over in sci.crypt do it all the time? I must have more than a dozen encryption routines of varying age and robustness from them. NSA's not breathing down anybody's necks over there. -=- Hugh Hugh Miller | Dept. of Philosophy | Loyola University of Chicago Voice: 312-508-2727 | FAX: 312-508-2292 | UUCP: hugh@gargoyle.uchicago.edu "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" - The Wizard of Oz
a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (Arthur Rubin) (06/27/91)
In <hugh.677948723@gargoyle.uchicago.edu> hugh@gargoyle.uchicago.edu (Hugh Miller) writes: > That's odd. I downloaded pgp from either this newsgroup or >comp.sources (can't remember which & didn't save the headers). Two >files: pgp10.zip (binaries) and pgp10src.zip (source code). They work fine. I got them by ftp from somewhere, I believe the author's machine. I think he said he decided not to upload them because of some corespondance with PKP or RSA. -- 2165888@mcimail.com 70707.453@compuserve.com arthur@pnet01.cts.com (personal) a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (work) My opinions are my own, and do not represent those of my employer.
mrs@netcom.COM (Morgan Schweers) (06/29/91)
Greetings,
I got them off of alt.sources, I think... Everything was
made available on one of the alt groups.
It looks like a nice program, and I checked it out. It's still available,
from a number of sites I believe. (I think the WELL still has a copy of it up)
It also got spread to a *LOT* of major BBS systems, very quickly.
If you need a copy, I'm sure I could find a place that you could get it
from. It's a *REALLY* smart program, actually. It claims to include
compression, as well as two different portions of encryption. This makes it
pretty secure, since it lessens the level of multiple characters, etc.
If you're interested in RSA, and considering leasing it (or you think
that you MIGHT be interested in leasing it, OR you're just interested in
cryptology and won't use it for any real purposes) then you should grab
a copy of it.
To actually USE it to encrypt your mail requires that you get a license,
otherwise if they catch you encrypting your mail with it they'll be Very
Very Upset!
Me personally, I like encryption for the fun of it. I wouldn't actually
*USE* it. (After all, isn't all my mail already supposed to be private?
Don't answer that!)
-- Morgan Schweers
--
mrs@netcom.com | Morgan Schweers | Good code, good food, good sex. Is
ms@gnu.ai.mit.edu| These messages | anything else important? -- Freela
Kilroy Balore | are not the +--------------------------------------
Freela | opinion of anyone.| I *AM* an AI. I'm not real...