Re: Atheros wi-fi card drivers (?)
On Mon, 2005-03-07 at 16:55 +0100, Raphael Jacquot wrote: [...] > as your name appears european, there are no software patents (yet ?) so Alas, this is wrong. The EPO is issuing masses of software patents since years (though they are more or less explicitly[0] excluded from patentability in the EPC). So they must not have been granted in the first place - nevertheless they are there. > you should be able to release that code as required for interoperability > > however, IANAL Me too! Bernd [0]: Depending on how to interpret the words "software as such". -- Firmix Software GmbH http://www.firmix.at/ mobil: +43 664 4416156 fax: +43 1 7890849-55 Embedded Linux Development and Services - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
Re: Atheros wi-fi card drivers (?)
On Mon, 2005-03-07 at 17:26 +, Alan Cox wrote: > On Llu, 2005-03-07 at 15:45, Mateusz Berezecki wrote: > > I've been doing some reverse engineering of madwifi HAL (Hardware > > Abstraction Layer) object file recently. > > I ended up with an almost complete source code for one chipset so far > > and I was wondering if it is legal > > to publish such source code on the internet? > > You should normally avoid doing this. Instead write a description of the > chip registers and functions from the source you have produced and get > someone else to write a chip driver from that. This avoids the risk of > you being held to have "copied" their code - in the EU while you have > rights to reverse engineer for interoperability in general if you copy > their code that may still be a copyright violation. > Just to clarify, this also applies to the USA. > There is other code in the kernel where reverse engineering was used. > Heh, that is putting it mildly. Linux driver support would be nowhere without reverse engineering. Lee - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
Re: Atheros wi-fi card drivers (?)
Hi, Raphael Jacquot wrote: as your name appears european, there are no software patents (yet ?) so you should be able to release that code as required for interoperability The release of that source does not depend on software patents (which seem to be acked yesterday for europe ... ;-() However with software patents a company could sue you for violating a patent wheter you wrote the code or reverse engeneered it. E.g. for a "transmitting information without cables, e.g. binary encoded via a radio signal modulated this and that way. claims: any implementation that transmit information without cables (including birds in the air) ... and so on the usual patent fluff ..." patent. Yours, -- René Rebe - Rubensstr. 64 - 12157 Berlin (Europe / Germany) http://www.exactcode.de/ | http://www.t2-project.org/ +49 (0)30 255 897 45 - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
Re: Atheros wi-fi card drivers (?)
> A different one than the one that's supported by OpenBSD's reverse-engineered > HAL? I guess so :-) -- Mateusz Berezecki <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
Re: Atheros wi-fi card drivers (?)
On Mon, Mar 07, 2005 at 04:45:38PM +0100, Mateusz Berezecki wrote: > Hi list members, > > I've been doing some reverse engineering of madwifi HAL (Hardware > Abstraction Layer) object file recently. > I ended up with an almost complete source code for one chipset so far A different one than the one that's supported by OpenBSD's reverse-engineered HAL? - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
Re: Atheros wi-fi card drivers (?)
Not really an answer to your question but are you aware of the OpenBSD free Atheros HAL work (as part of the OpenBSD ath driver)? - R. - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
Re: Atheros wi-fi card drivers (?)
On Llu, 2005-03-07 at 15:45, Mateusz Berezecki wrote: > I've been doing some reverse engineering of madwifi HAL (Hardware > Abstraction Layer) object file recently. > I ended up with an almost complete source code for one chipset so far > and I was wondering if it is legal > to publish such source code on the internet? You should normally avoid doing this. Instead write a description of the chip registers and functions from the source you have produced and get someone else to write a chip driver from that. This avoids the risk of you being held to have "copied" their code - in the EU while you have rights to reverse engineer for interoperability in general if you copy their code that may still be a copyright violation. > The note on a card says it > is "protected by us patents ". > Does the patent apply to the reverse engineered source code, or just to > the hardware? Or is it even legal to create such source code? Depends if you are in the USA. To answer that question you would also need to look at the US patents. If you are in the USA then you should not do this even though it is what patent law was intended for because the US legal system is broken. Another question would be "do Atheros care" as I understand their fundamental issue was compliance with FCC regulations rather than concerns about free software. > I would like to ask for some comments regarding this case. And let's say > the driver works, would it be included into kernel source ? There is other code in the kernel where reverse engineering was used. Alan - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
Re: Atheros wi-fi card drivers (?)
Mateusz Berezecki wrote: Hi list members, I've been doing some reverse engineering of madwifi HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) object file recently. I ended up with an almost complete source code for one chipset so far and I was wondering if it is legal to publish such source code on the internet? The note on a card says it is "protected by us patents ". Does the patent apply to the reverse engineered source code, or just to the hardware? Or is it even legal to create such source code? I would like to ask for some comments regarding this case. And let's say the driver works, would it be included into kernel source ? regards Mateusz Berezecki as your name appears european, there are no software patents (yet ?) so you should be able to release that code as required for interoperability however, IANAL imho, the better solution is now for you to create and release a documentation of what does what in the chipset, so that *someone else* recreates the thing from scratch. To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/ - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
Atheros wi-fi card drivers (?)
Hi list members, I've been doing some reverse engineering of madwifi HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) object file recently. I ended up with an almost complete source code for one chipset so far and I was wondering if it is legal to publish such source code on the internet? The note on a card says it is "protected by us patents ". Does the patent apply to the reverse engineered source code, or just to the hardware? Or is it even legal to create such source code? I would like to ask for some comments regarding this case. And let's say the driver works, would it be included into kernel source ? regards Mateusz Berezecki - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
