Subject: RE: IPS and patents

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 2003 10:39:46 -0500

> > > Actually, in the wg-guidelines document we have an example of a w.g.  
> > > ignoring all (real?) IPR-claims.  I bet this is because w.g.
participants
> > > themselves have the IPR and aren't worried about the problem.
> > > 
> > > There seem to be many other cases similar to this.  I seem to vaguely
> > > remember a case with (IPS?) where some IETF participants had gone,
> > > researched authentication techniques used and boldly patented whatever
> > > seemed to be still "up for grabs", etc.etc.
> > 
> > IPS "ignoring all (real?) IPR-claims" ????  That's absolute, utter, and
> > complete nonsense, at least as far as IPS is concerned.  
> 
> If you look carefully, I was not saying that.  The specific w.g. in the 
> first paragraph was CDI.
> 
> I'm sorry for not saying it more clearly.

I did look carefully - what Pekka missed was that the attitude towards
patents in IPS was essentially the diametric opposite of that described
for CDI.  Any statement that what happened in IPS was "similar" to CDI
"ignoring all (real?) IPR-claims" is just plain wrong, which is far more
than a matter of not "saying it more clearly".

> IPS did lots and lots of work to *avoid* patents, for which I want
> congratulate them.  A lesson it seemed to me from IPS (or more precisely,
> the security mechanisms) were under a case of "folks going off to
> patent everything still available, so that you just might be able
> to squeeze some money off IPS (and other) implementors".

I don't think so.  From what I saw, IPS ran into existing patents,
as opposed to new ones specifically designed to take advantage of
what IPS was doing.  I think the actual lesson is that some areas
of technology are so badly patent-infested that the best bet is
unfortunately to steer clear of them unless there really is no other
feasible alternative.

Thanks,
--David (IPS WG co-chair)
----------------------------------------------------
David L. Black, Senior Technologist
EMC Corporation, 176 South St., Hopkinton, MA  01748
+1 (508) 293-7953             FAX: +1 (508) 293-7786
[email-masked]        Mobile: +1 (978) 394-7754
----------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Ipr-wg mailing list
[email-masked]
https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ipr-wg