Re: [TLS] Proto write-up for TLS exporter

[Dean Anderson <dean at av8.com>]

I may have been unclear. Simon really has a firm grasp of the issues in
this case, see his message of 13 May 2009 (below)

The point is that we should figure out the IPR issue before we approve
this document.  We have a last minute disclosure which we don't
understand, yet.  As Simon notes, there is a lot not specific to ECC
that might be in those patents, even the ECC patent documents could have
patented something overlapped by the extractor draft. If there is really
nothing there, then we'll figure that out and advance the document.  
But if there is something there, we will want to know that.

Not knowing these answers, it seems prudent to wait.  (I rather feel
rushed by Paul Hoffman et al. I get the distinct feeling--like a used
car saleman trying to keep me from taking another look at the used car
they want to sell me.)  This tends to make me more hesitant.

Certicom could be helpful and state whether this draft infringes any of
their patents, and which.  Their offer to licence isn't an assurance of
no infringement; just the opposite: their offer implies that the draft
infringes something.  What?

I oppose the document at this time, until we have answers to the IPR
questions.

		--Dean


On Wed, 13 May 2009, Simon Josefsson wrote:

> Eric Rescorla <ekr at networkresonance.com> writes:
>
> > Do you have some reason to believe that extractors itself is
> > encumbered absent use of ECC?
>
> Some of the patents quoted by Certicom in that PDF do not appear to be
> specific to ECC.  There is no analysis that they don't apply to
> tls-extractor.


On Sun, 17 May 2009, Eric Rescorla wrote:

> At Mon, 18 May 2009 02:14:27 -0400 (EDT),
> Dean Anderson wrote:
> > Very few patent holders /don't/ want to foster broad adoption of their
> > technology.  Its the right of patent holders to prevent all use, but
> > broad adoption is frequently the goal of the patent holder, along with
> > the accompanying license fees, of course.  I do not dispute your goal of
> > broad adoption. I dispute that your license is really free, and I
> > dispute that we need to adopt ECC technology into TLS on a non-free
> > basis.
> 
> Nor is there any suggestion that we do so.
> 
> TLS Exporters are a generic technology that applies to any TLS 
> cipher suite. There's no ECC in it at all. 
> 
> -Ekr
> 
> 
> 
> 

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