RE: ssl and lynx_w32?

> From:	Poehlman, David [SMTP:David.Poehlman@usmint.treas.gov]
> 
> In reading through the lynx.cfg file, I notice that there is some
> reference
> to ssl but for some reason, it seems that https lynx are unsupported.  Is
	[DJW:]  
	Until last week, there was a licensing conflict that
	prevented the redistribution of SSL Lynx, but not of the
	patches and Lynx independently.  Commercial use would
	have required royalty payments in the USA, and possibly
	other countries.

	The patent on RSA has now expired, and the Lynx mailing 
	list is currently considering the implications.  There
	are still some issues to do with US export legislation,
	although this probably amounts to getting the electronic
	paperwork straight, as the export controls on opoen source
	software were greatly relaxed early this year; SSL Lynx
	would not have been exportable this time last year.

	Note the copyright on RSAREF is probably still valid, so
	previous US builds are probably still non-redistributable,
	but an OpenSSL version should be.

	NB.  some of the symmetric ciphers that can be used in SSL
	may be still in patent, but (IANAL) I believe that DES and
	triple DES are out of patent and that MD5 is royalty free.

	SSL, itself, is patented (by Netscape), but royalty free.
	RSA was not royalty free for commercial users, and Lynx's
	GPL requires the software to be royalty free for all
	potential users.

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Received on Thursday, 14 September 2000 06:39:46 UTC