From: "baldwin" <baldwin@RSA.COM (Robert W. Baldwin)>
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 95 08:06:57 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: RSA Data Security, Inc. To Exclusively License Rights to RSA
Message-ID: <9509128135.AA813510342@snail.rsa.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


        Here's the latest press release from my employer.  As was pointed
out earlier, for those who did not already know, Business Wire articles
are written by companies and distributed to news agencies by BW for a fee.
                --Bob Baldwin

______________________________

RSA Data Security, Inc. To Exclusively License Rights to RSA Public Key 
Encryption and Digital Signature Standard (DSS) Technologies; Company Becomes 
One-Stop Worldwide Source for Encryption Technology

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 12, 1995--RSA Data Security, Inc. 
today announced that it is now licensing patents for the Digital Signature 
Standard (DSS), the U.S. government standard for digital signatures.

RSA also announced that it has renewed its exclusive licensing agreement for the
 industry-standard Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) public key cryptosystem developed 
 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). With the addition of DSS 
technology to its portfolio of encryption offerings, RSA Data Security has 
become the exclusive source for the industry's most widely accepted security 
technologies.

RSA also announced that under its uniform, non-discriminatory licensing plan, 
manufacturers will pay a one-time royalty when they sell products containing RSA
 and/or DSS technology. No additional per-certificate or use charges are 
required.

`For the first time, the patents covering the most popular encryption and 
digital signature methods in the world, RSA and DSS, are easily available on a 
non-discriminatory basis from a single vendor,` said Jim Bidzos, president of 
RSA. `By offering one-stop shopping for both systems, our customers can 
seamlessly integrate both RSA encryption and DSS digital signature methods into 
their products.` 

Widespread Implementation

Many of RSA's software licensees -- such as Adobe, Aquila, Atalla, National 
Semiconductor, Spyrus, Premenos, Spyglass, Terisa Systems, Frontier 
Technologies, BroadVision, Checkpoint Software, Raptor Systems, SafeCo 
Insurance, Wollongong, Square D, Interval Systems, and Comm-Press -- have 
already requested patent licenses to both the RSA and DSS techniques for use in 
software and hardware systems. IBM and Siemens currently offer DSS-based 
products, licensed under RSA's DSS patent, to the U.S. government.

`Now that vendors can obtain DSS and RSA patents from one source, we expect to 
see companies throughout the U.S., Europe and Japan incorporate RSA and DSS 
technology into dozens of products, including access control systems, network 
management systems, smart cards, link encryptors, and wireless encryption 
devices,` said Bidzos.

`The demand for these technologies is very strong and will continue to grow as 
vendors increasingly incorporate security features into their products. In the 
next several months we expect to be inundated with requests from licensees. This
 is great news for the security industry, which has waited patiently for easy 
availability of the RSA and DSS patents.` 

Digital Signatures

A digital signature on an electronic document is an encrypted form of data 
equivalent to a signature on a printed document, such as a contract or other 
commercial agreement. It verifies that the document is valid and unaltered, and 
that the person signing the document has agreed to its terms.

Furthermore, secure digital signatures cannot be repudiated. The signer of a 
document cannot disown it by claiming it was forged. Both DSS and RSA support 
digital signatures and certificates. Several states, including California and 
Utah have recently enacted legislation recognizing digital signatures as legally
 binding. 

License Availability

Uniform licenses to both the RSA and DSS/Schnorr patents are available 
immediately. The license text, as well as other information regarding these 
patents, is available on RSA Data Security's home page at http://www.rsa.com.

For existing customers of RSA's BSAFE and TIPEM software toolkits, no separate 
patent licenses are required. All rights under the patents to use, integrate and
 copy RSA's software are embedded. 

RSA Data Security, Inc.

RSA Data Security, Inc. is the world's brand name for cryptography, with more 
than 15 million copies of RSA encryption and authentication technologies 
installed and in use worldwide. RSA technologies are part of existing and 
proposed standards for the Internet and World Wide Web, CCITT, ISO, ANSI, IEEE, 
and business, financial and electronic commerce networks around the globe.

The company develops and markets platform-independent developers kits and 
end-user products and provides comprehensive cryptographic consulting services.

Founded in 1982 by the inventors of the RSA Public Key Cryptosystem, the company
 is headquartered in Redwood City, Calif. -0-

Note to Editors: RSA Public Key Cryptosystem, BSAFE and TIPEM are trademarks of 
RSA Data Security, Inc. All other product or company names are trademarks of 
their respective corporations.

For information regarding licensing RSA or DSS patents, contact Paul Livesay at 
RSA Data Security, Inc. (415) 595-8782, or polrsa.com.

For information regarding licensing RSA or DSS toolkits, contact Paul Gordon at 
RSA Data Security, Inc. (415) 595-8782, or paulrsa.com.

--30--kr/sf..

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Patrick Corman, 415/326-9648

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http://www.hnt.com/bizwire

AP-NY-10-12-95 0701EDT


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