- From: Mike Eisler <Michael.Eisler@Eng.Sun.COM>
- Date: Fri, 7 Mar 1997 09:36:26 -0800 (PST)
- To: Paul Hoffman <paulh@imc.org>
- cc: ietf-tls@w3.org
> At 6:50 AM -0800 3/7/97, Tom Libert wrote: > >I believe RC2 is still a trade secret, but RC4 was leaked to the Cypherpunks > >list in September, '94. The algorithm is described in Chapter 17 of Bruce > >Schneier's "Applied Cryptography", 2ed. > > Just because it is published in a book (or on a mailing list) does not mean > it is acceptable to use in a standards track RFC. I think the question is, FYI ... RFC2026, especially section 7.1 and section 10 provides guidelines for how to incorporate external specifications into standards track documents. Section 7.1.2 says if the owners of RC2 and RC4 aren't willing to make these "widely and readibly available, the IESG may request that it be published as an Informational RFC". Section 10 has language that says that patented technology can be incorporated, provided the owners will provide a license under general and nondiscriminatory terms. I'll leave to the IESG to determine if both RC2 and RC4 meet these tests. -mre
Received on Friday, 7 March 1997 12:37:38 UTC