From: Mike Ingle <MIKEINGLE@delphi.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Feb 94 03:01:24 PST
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Precedent for PGP legality
Message-ID: <01H8V5JH4BG29JDWG9@delphi.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


Found on alt.security.pgp. This might be worth researching and putting in a
future PGP manual. While it wouldn't keep PKP from harassing commercial
services into taking PGP down, it might help to keep keyservers and the
like alive. This is a court decision that found the construction of a
patented device for nonprofit purposes is not an infringement.

From: cjohnst@xmission.com (Charles Johnston)
Newsgroups: alt.security.pgp
Subject: PGP could be perfectly legal in the United States!!!!!

I was researching in the University of Utah law library nearby,
and I found a case that talks about patents and
private/experimental use.

It's 73 Fed 206,211 if you're interested in looking it up.
I haven't Shepardized it yet (found all future cases 
affecting the opinions), but here it is.

This is Bonsack Mach. Co. v. Underwood

Speaking of patents:

"The making of an infringing machine merely as an experiment
is not an actionable infringment..."

and

"To constitute an infringement, the making must be with an
intent to use for profit, and not for the mere purpose of
a philosophical experiment."

This seems to say that PGP is okay to use!  I would appreciate
ANY comments!  I will be researching this further REALLY soon!

By the way, when was the RSA patent granted?  They only last
17 years!

Charles Johnston