From: smb@research.att.com
Date: Fri, 6 May 94 16:49:42 PDT
To: Derek Atkins <warlord@MIT.EDU>
Subject: Re: Putting new PGP on company machines.
Message-ID: <9405062349.AA16716@toad.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


	 > Has anyone asked the company shysters about the legal status of MIT-
	PGP?
	 > I'd really like to have and use pgp at work, but have hesitated abou
	t
	 > putting it our machines here, as we are so prim and proper (in publi
	c)
	 > about intellectual property.

	 Asked them what?  When PGP 2.5 is released (what you call MIT-PGP), it
	 *WILL* be legal in the US.  It will use RSAREF 2.0, so there will be
	 no question as to its legality in the US for non-commercial purposes.

Two things come to mind.  First, some company lawyers may not like
the provisions of the RSAREF license.  At the very least, most companies
with on-staff lawyers would want them to glance at it.  Second, I've
never seen a comparable piece of electronic ``paper'' about IDEA.  Have
you seen something from the patent owners themselves?  Not that I have
any doubts -- but I've seen cases where lawyers demanded a paper trail
of agreements from the patent assignee of record as listed in the
Official Gazette.

The answers may be obvious to some folks on this list -- but most of
us aren't lawyers.