John,
Let's set the naming issue aside for a minute to explore another area. I
know you have though about this at length, and I would like to hear your
forecast.
Just for the sake of argument, let me cast you in the role of PGP advocate
trying to sell me on using PGP, possibly integrated with MIME, in my
corporate environment. As an individual, I can go to a server (and I have)
to get a copy of PGP to analyze from an academic viewpoint. Even if I
exchange a few PGP messages with you, Jim Bidzos is unlike to take legal
action against me.
As the MITRE Corporation, though, I would be looking to deploy PGP on all
employee workstations (several thousand of them). I don't want to do
implementation and maintenance in-house for common office automation
applications, so I want a well-supported COTS package that is integrated
with my environment. In that case, aren't I going to get into considerable
trouble using RSA without a license?
It's bad enough that I have to worry about the Software Publishers
Association raiding me because of tip from a disgruntled employee, even
though I have stringent formal policies against software piracy. Why
should I risk a patent suit? MITRE only has about 6,000 employees. Look
at the risk that would be incurred by an GM or a Campbell's Soup. Doesn't
this situation place a severe limit on PGP being able to scale to the
world?
Regards, -Rob-
Robert W. Shirey, The MITRE Corporation, Mail Stop Z202
7525 Colshire Dr., McLean, Virginia 22102-3481 USA
shirey(_at_)mitre(_dot_)org * tel 703-883-7210 * fax 703-883-1397