[116626] in Cypherpunks
RE: The Chaum coding project
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Petro)
Mon Aug 16 17:34:42 1999
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Date: Mon, 16 Aug 1999 14:16:01 -0700
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
From: Petro <petro@suba.com>
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Reply-To: Petro <petro@suba.com>
>Wagner-style blinding is interesting, but not nearly as elegant as Chaumian
>Blind Signatures. Unfortunately, Chaumian Blind Signatures are patented. And
>the patent holders have so far not licensed the technology in a rational
>manner. Sure, one could write an Ecash implemtation for "academic use only".
>I even know somebody willing to pay for the development effort. But
>seriously, what's the point in having an Ecash implementation that can't be
>used for commercial purposes?
Patents don't last forever, and getting the code ready before
hand would make it a lot quicker to deploy when the patent does
expire.
Most of the issues, most of the "tough stuff" for e-cash is
(I would think) at the client end, where you can't even trust that
the machine is minimally secured or stable. Clients need to be tested
in those environments for a while before big money would get involved.
Get the code out there, stamp For Academic Use Only--Not For
Commercial Use, and let the porn mongers test the code.
IIRC, part of the tests for damages in a patent suit is,
well, how much financial damage you did to the "injured" party. Chaum
ain't making shit off it right now is he?
And if the scheme DOES work, well then it could be argued
that they INCREASED the value of the patents by proving it in the
field--now they just have to pay a license to use it.
Then again, IANAL
--
"To sum up: The entire structure of antitrust statutes in this
country is a jumble of economic irrationality and ignorance. It is a
product: (a) of a gross misinterpretation of history, and (b) of
rather naïve, and certainly unrealistic, economic theories." Alan
Greenspan, "Anti-trust"
http://www.ecosystems.net/mgering/antitrust.html
