On 07/15/2011 05:36 PM, Kyle Hamilton wrote: > ... > > EC is considered to be a patent minefield. Some people (RSA Data > Security) say that it's possible to implement EC cryptography using > different types of algorithms which are not covered by the patents. > Other people (Bruce Schneier, US NSA) say that the mechanism itself > is patented, not simply specific algorithms for calculation.
I'll make just one comment here: U.S. patent law, at least as applied to software, is a festering cesspool. > The US NSA licensed from Certicom the right to sublicense the EC > algorithms used in "Suite B". My understanding is that OpenSSL > received a gift from Sun Microsystems of its EC sublicense from NSA. OpenSSL (in the guise of its corporate manifestation, the OpenSSL Software Foundation), is a direct NSA sublicensee (http://opensslfoundation.com/testing/docs/NSA-PLA.pdf). Note that sublicense only covers some prime field ECC; for the rest of it "seek competent legal advice". Also note the license is nontransferrable. -Steve M. -- Steve Marquess OpenSSL Software Foundation, Inc. 1829 Mount Ephraim Road Adamstown, MD 21710 USA +1 877-673-6775 marqu...@opensslfoundation.com
