And it is totally irrelevant anyway. The stated position of RSA here,
which has in fact been posted to this list by RSA representatives, is
that they believe this algorithm is still covered by trade secret rules.
I for one don't really care whether RSA thinks that RC2 is a trade secret.
(or for that matter, what RSA's reasoning is)
Just because RSA has an opinion doesn't mean IETF is bound by it.
What IETF cares about is that the algorithm is a published standard
(either de facto or de jure), and that the technology is available
under reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms.
If RSA publishes the algorithm, fine; if the algorithm is published by
somebody else, fine. But it does have to be published. If this WG
can't find a RC2 specification to reference, it needs to use some
other symmetric encryption algorithm. (And IMHO it shouldn't waste any
more time waiting for RSA to make up its mind...RSA has had plenty of time
to publish RC2 if it wants to do that.)
This means that confidentiality restrictions may still apply, a zillion
postings to various newsgroups notwithstanding. And this in turn means
that it is a nonstarter as far as the IETF is concerned. Again, the
IETF rules concerning this could not be any clearer.
IETF rules are very clear: we don't take any position as to the validity
of anybody else's intellectual property claims.
Keith