definitive answer on legality of apache-ssl for U.S. commercial use?
I've read in the SSLeay FAQ (http://www.psy.uq.oz.au/~ftp/Crypto/) that it
is "probably" illegal to use it for commercial use in the U.S. Apparently,
in order to make it legal, one would have to license the RSA algorithms.
I read in a Usenet post (attached below) that Debian has somehow licensed or
otherwise made a deal with RSA. Does anybody know if this is in fact true?
Therefore, is it legal to use Debian's apache-ssl package (which I can find
in the unstable package area)?
btw, the post also mentions that obtaining a Verisign cert is another way to
take care of making oneself legal in the eyes of RSA. I do in fact have an
email in to Verisign to find out about this, in case the Debian lead doesn't
work out; haven't heard back from them yet. I wonder if certs from the
other CA's have the same effect....
btw again, I am in fact also sending an email to the maintainer of the
apache-ssl package (dunno if he reads this list)... kind of attacking this
question from all angles at once.
tia for any info anyone can provide.
[Usenet post follows]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
We're currently running Apache+SSL with a Verisign cert. According to
them, we are legal WRT RSA... I believe part of the fee covers an
agreement with RSA. At least that's what they told us.
Charles
Charles Sprickman
spork@super-g.com
----
On Sat, 11 Jul 1998, Vince Vielhaber wrote:
> On Sat, 11 Jul 1998, Glynn Clements wrote:
>
> >
> > Numard (Norberto Meijome) wrote:
> >
> > > i'm interested in setting up an https server to do web commerce. The
> > > server is in USA. I'm actually running apache. I was planning to
install
> > > apache-ssl (w/ ssl-Leavy).
>
> Running apache-ssl in the USA you will run into licensing problems with
> RSA. I tried licensing directly through them and was told the license
> would cost $10,000 plus royalties. Both RedHat and Debian have made deals
> with RSA, perhaps someone like Walnut Creek could do likewise. I'm still
> investigating whether the RedHat or Debian license of RSA is transferable
> to a different OS, 'cuze I won't run linux (I've admin'd enough of that).
>
> Vince.
> --
> ==========================================================================
> Vince Vielhaber -- KA8CSH email: vev@michvhf.com flame-mail: /dev/null
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> than the federal government" -- Tony Snow
> ==========================================================================
>
--
Chad Pankratz
chadp@ncdc.com
701-663-6511 x167
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