[6109] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: Spies in the 'forests'
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (bram)
Mon Nov 22 18:27:26 1999
Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 14:07:01 -0800 (PST)
From: bram <bram@gawth.com>
To: Russell Nelson <nelson@crynwr.com>
Cc: cryptography@c2.net
In-Reply-To: <14393.42001.588660.180479@desk.crynwr.com>
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.10.9911221405001.28237-100000@ultra.gawth.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
On Mon, 22 Nov 1999, Russell Nelson wrote:
> Craig Raskin writes:
> > http://trec.nist.gov/pubs/trec6/papers/nsa-rev.ps
>
> Why would the NSA patent this? It's not like the NSA can't keep a
> (trade) secret.
Remember, patent covers independent reinvention. Most things patented
these days are going to be rediscovered sooner or later (generally sooner,
often prior,) so you might as well patent the good idea just to keep
anyone else from using it.
-Bram
