Re: symmetric algorithms

Anonymous (nobody@replay.com)
Sun, 20 Dec 1998 05:28:43 +0100

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> > Be careful; that's misleading. Some of us believe that RC4 is in the
> > public domain, but RSADSI still maintains that it is proprietary. RC5 and
> > RC6 are patented, and definitely not in the public domain. RC2 is heading
> > towards the public domain, but I do not believe it is there yet.

(a) crypto software is restricted, public domain or not, if I understand the
comments I've heard right (only Gen. Software Note frees PD software; crypto is
covered somwhere else).

(b) public domain was defined in terms of the redistribution limits on the
software; if it weren't for PGP 2.6.2 being crypto, it could be exportable
(i.e., public domain even though RSA and IDEA are not).

> RC2 has been legitimately published:
> RFC 2268 A Description of the RC2(r) Encryption Algorithm. R. Rivest.
> January 1998. (Format: TXT=19048 bytes) (Status: INFORMATIONAL)
>
> So it's public domain.
>
> > There is
> > no such thing as RC1 and RC3 (at least in public).
> I seem to remember hearing somewhere that they've been broken.
>
> -Ekr
>
>
> --
> [Eric Rescorla ekr@rtfm.com]

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