Le dimanche 25 Juillet 2004 23:20, Paul Iadonisi a écrit :
For people on this list and the MARID list to be upset about reaching
this late stage with no acceptable answer from Microsoft, when it has
been brought up various forums since the beginning is entirely
understandable. And it is insulting to be told, in so many words to "be
quiet, you are being unprofessional" when that opinion is being
expressed.
As far as I'm concerned, I consider that the official Microsoft position about
Sender-ID license is expressed on the official Microsoft web page (otherwise,
where would it be supposed to be ?)
This page is here:
http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/twc/privacy/spam_senderid.mspx
It has not been updated since July, 12.
It clearly states:
<<<
If you are a software developer and are interested in implementing this
specification in software, please review the terms of the Caller ID for
E-Mail Implementation License
[http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/ip/standards/] before you begin, as the
patent license discusses the rights that Microsoft would grant you or your
organization. Please note that a license agreement is not required for
individuals, companies, or ISPs who only wish to publish their Sender ID
records.
The http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/ip/standards/ states that the
"Royalty-Free Caller ID for E-Mail Specification License Agreement" is
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/0/a/60a02573-3c00-4ee1-856b-afa39c020a95/callerid_license.pdf
And this document hasn't changed even for a comma yet.
In its current state, it _IS_ incompatable with the implementation of
Sender-ID in Free Software, and I have already given detailed explanation
about why in a email I sent to the MARID ietf-mxcomp list on July 15
(see http://www.imc.org/ietf-mxcomp/mail-archive/msg02679.html).
<usual IANAL disclamer>
Let's look at the _facts_ an not lose our time with suppositions. The
Microsoft website doesn't say that the licensing terms "are being reviewed"
or "are currently under study" or "could change as to fulfill the
requirements for Sender-ID to become an IETF standard".
The Microsoft website says : Here is the license, here are the conditions,
period.
The Microsoft guys can possibly say "weeeellll... It's being reviewed... We're
talking with our lawyers... They're talking with management... Management is
waiting for a sign from God... But weeeeelllll... We promise we'll give you
an answer real soon... We mean, one day or the other... And yes, this answer
could possibly be somewhat positive... Not sure although..."
IMHO this is bullshit. I take into consideration what I see in written in some
official document or website of the company.
And as I'm not a suspicious guy, not even a little paranoid, I really have no
reason to suspect that Microsoft could have any genuine desire to help making
their protocol easily implementable in Free Software. I really have no reason
to think, or to supect, that they could possibly wish to give their algorithm
to the public domain.
So I don't make any assumption, and I just believe in what I see written on
their web pages and license.
And what I see is not acceptable, not only IMHO, but also for any Free
Software developper, distributor ou user out there (which makes quite a
crowd).
Regards.
--
Michel Bouissou <michel(_at_)bouissou(_dot_)net> OpenPGP ID 0xDDE8AC6E