ADKs

[Robert J. Hansen]

Nicholas Cole wrote:
> Although, of course, if there really are patent issues, it can't
> happen, but perhaps PGP Corp would/could be flexible on this point.

Not happening.  GnuPG is already making inroads enough on the server 
market.  ADK is one of the few features which (a) PGP can claim over 
GnuPG and (b) businesses want.  If GnuPG implemented ADK-like features, 
that would likely present enough of a competitive threat to encourage 
PGP to wave the patent hammer.

The last time I talked to a patent lawyer about software (I had a nifty 
thing I wanted to implement and needed to make sure I wasn't walking 
into a patent lawsuit), I paid my $200/hr and got this bit of 
professional advice: "in today's software market, patents are used a lot 
more to keep other people out than to bring money in."

Assuming that my lawyer is accurate, the ADK patent would seem like an 
obvious one to use in such a way: it is more useful to PGP to have it 
around to keep competitors out of a certain part of the market than it 
would be to have it around to license to competitors to allow them into 
that certain part of the market.