From: Jeffrey I. Schiller <jis@mit.edu>
Date: Mon, 23 May 94 21:23:46 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: MIT has released PGP 2.6
Message-ID: <9405240423.AA20999@big-screw>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

MIT is pleased  to announce the release of   PGP 2.6, a free  public-key
encryption program for non-commercial use.  PGP 2.6 provides for digital
signatures and confidentiality of files and messages.

PGP  2.6  is  distributed  in  source  form    for  all platforms.   For
convenience, an MSDOS executable is also part of  this release.  Because
source is  available, anyone may   examine  it to verify the   program's
integrity.

PGP 2.6 uses the RSAREF(TM)  Cryptographic Toolkit, supplied by RSA Data
Security, Inc.  PGP 2.6 is being released by MIT with the cooperation of
RSADSI.

In order  to fully protect  RSADSI's   intellectual property  rights  in
public-key technology, PGP   2.6 is  designed so  that  the  messages it
creates after September  1, 1994 will  be unreadable by earlier versions
of PGP that infringe patents licensed exclusively to Public Key Partners
by MIT and Stanford University. PGP 2.6 will continue to be able to read
messages generated by those earlier versions.

Because earlier  versions of PGP   (including  MIT's Beta  test PGP  2.5
release)  will not be able  to  read messages created   by PGP 2.6 after
September 1, 1994, MIT  strongly urges all PGP  users to upgrade to  the
new format.

The  intent of the   format change is   to  discourage continued  use of
earlier infringing software  in the  U.S., and  to  give people adequate
time to  upgrade.  As part of the  release process,  MIT commissioned an
independent legal review of the intellectual property issues surrounding
earlier releases of PGP and PGP keyservers.  This review determined that
use of PGP  2.3 within the United States  infringes a patent licensed by
MIT to RSADSI,  and that keyservers that primarily  accept 2.3  keys are
mostly likely contributing to this  infringement.  For that reason,  MIT
encourages all non-commercial  PGP users in the U.S.  to upgrade  to PGP
2.6,  and all  keyserver  operators to no longer   accept keys  that are
identified as being produced by PGP 2.3.

How to get PGP 2.6 from MIT:

PGP 2.6 is available from MIT only over the  Internet. Use anonymous FTP
to login to net-dist.mit.edu. Login as  anonymous. Look in the directory
/pub/PGP. In this directory,  available to everyone,  is a README file a
copy of  the  RSAREF license  and a  copy  of  a  software license  from
MIT. Please read the   README file and these  licenses  carefully.  Take
particular note of the provisions about export control.  THe README file
contains more detailed instructions on how to get PGP 2.6.

Also in /pub/PGP is   a copy of the  PGP  Manual (files  pgpdoc1.txt and
pgpdoc2.txt) and  the file pgformat.doc  that describes the PGP message,
signature and  key  formats, including  the  modifications for  PGP 2.6.
These are   being made available   without the distribution restrictions
that pertain to the PGP source and executable code.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6

iQBVAgUBLeGAOlUFZvpNDE7hAQG4yQH+PbABiBvnFQU0u084Ed9whx988IaUNpIp
Sl4Ab950SChJbewZNvcpQ/yEMjF2wi6PhUx4k3VySUvKmaC6W7rhNQ==
=+qTj
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----