Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!psuvax1!psuvm!barilvm!hank
From: HANK@BARILVM.BITNET (Hank Nussbacher)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.kerberos
Subject: RE: RSA
Message-ID: <89355.135038HANK@BARILVM.BITNET>
Date: 21 Dec 89 11:50:38 GMT
Organization: Bar-Ilan University Computing Center, Israel
Lines: 28

>From: Denis.Russell%newcastle.ac.uk@NSFNET-RELAY.AC.UK
>5)   RSA  is  patented in the USA (except for the Government and
>     MIT?).
>
>     Interestingly,  this  patent apparently only applies WITHIN
>     the USA, and use is free in the rest of the world.  RSA Inc
>     still hopes to sell related computer programs  outside  the
>     USA,  but it is not clear to me how this would avoid export
>     embargoes mentioned in the next point.
>
>6)   There   are  problems  with  exporting  certain  encryption
>     "devices" from the USA.   The  situation  is  complex,  but
>     apparently  applies  to kerberos either with or without DES
>     modules.  Does this apply to software produced by RSA  Inc,
>     and  if  not,  why not?  (Yes, maybe I should read Alice in
>     Wonderland with my daughter over Christmas!)
>
>     Re-implementing  the  kerberos  protocol  may  not  be  too
>     difficult for us foreigners - we are already  knee-deep  in
>     DES implementations :-)

RSA stands for Rivest Shamir Adelman.  Shamir was at MIT on sabbatical
from Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.  I would find it hard
to believe that the USA could put export regulations on the 1/3 of
RSA that was designed by a non-USA citizen.

Hank Nussbacher
Israel