From: Phil Fraering        <pgf@tyrell.net>
Date: Sat, 15 Jul 95 08:06:42 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Mods to Dining Cryptographers: legal questions...
Message-ID: <199507151502.AA25734@tyrell.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



I'm sorry if I was a little mysterious about my reference to
another use or mode of a DC-net; I'd _love_ to tell the rest of
you flat-out, and put the idea in the public domain, but I'm
not sure I _CAN_.

(All of this is only relevant, however, if noone else has thought of
it first; I think this is unlikely at the moment, as it would mandate
a large rewriting of the section on DC-nets in the cyphernomicon. On
the other hand, I'm kinda suprised that noone else has thought of
this.)

Anyway, I just have this awful feeling that if I post this, there's
going to be a stupid patent application filed by someone like Jim
Bidzos claiming this and I won't be able to do anything about it.
(Please note I mean the people _like_ Jim Bidzos and not Jim Bidzos
himself; he's merely an example of someone who has a lot of capital to
spend on software patents. I don't, and don't mean to say that _he_
goes around stealing ideas from other people and patenting them.)

How do I do this and protect myself from the people who do have the
money to go through the intellectual property courthouse game?

Should I just dump this in the public domain? 

Perhaps show it to a trusted individual (or two) on this list to look
at and see whether it is worth further development (perhaps not?)?

Are there any patents on Dining-Cryptographers networks that could
interfere with the placing in the public domain, or the patenting, of
an improvement to the network system?

I need help.

Phil

+----------------+Quote from _Infinite In All Directions_, F.J. Dyson-----+
| Phil Fraering / \"The English Hierarchy, if there be anything unsound in|
| pgf@tyrell.net\ /its constitution, has reason to tremble even at an air |
+----------------+-pump or an electrical machine."---Joseph Priestly------+