From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S263930AbTLTR32 (ORCPT ); Sat, 20 Dec 2003 12:29:28 -0500 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id S264886AbTLTR32 (ORCPT ); Sat, 20 Dec 2003 12:29:28 -0500 Received: from mail1.hello-penguin.com ([193.228.81.146]:4807 "EHLO mail.hello-penguin.com") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S263930AbTLTR30 (ORCPT ); Sat, 20 Dec 2003 12:29:26 -0500 Date: Sat, 20 Dec 2003 18:28:50 +0100 From: Stefan Traby To: Arjan van de Ven Cc: Lennert Buytenhek , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: [OT] use of patented algorithms in the kernel ok or not? Message-ID: <20031220172850.GA17836@hello-penguin.com> Reply-To: Stefan Traby References: <20031218231137.GA13652@gnu.org> <1071823624.5223.1.camel@laptop.fenrus.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <1071823624.5223.1.camel@laptop.fenrus.com> Organization: Stefan Traby Services && Consulting X-Operating-System: Linux 2.4.22-stefan (i686) X-PGP: Key fingerprint = C090 8941 DAD8 4B09 77B1 E284 7873 9310 3BDB EA79 X-MIL: A-6172171143 User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.4i X-Lotto: Suggested Lotto numbers (Austrian 6 out of 45): 3 11 17 27 38 42 Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On Fri, Dec 19, 2003 at 09:47:05AM +0100, Arjan van de Ven wrote: > On Fri, 2003-12-19 at 00:11, Lennert Buytenhek wrote: > > > However, I am aware that there is a patent on this algorithm, exclusively > > licensed to a major manufacturer of networking equipment. > > a patent in which country ? > > Maybe we need a CONFIG_USA so that we can enhance the kernel for > non-unitedstatians while keeping it safe to run in that one country with > the patents as well. Ask a lawyer first - ahm - unless you have CONFIG_GUANTANAMO_BAY enabled... Raph Levien holds some GPL-friendly patents. see: http://www.levien.com/patents.html. Try to get a patent holder to make a statement like Raph did and it's suitable for Linux and other free software projects. -- ciao - Stefan