                       _             _ 
   _ __ ___   ___   __| |    ___ ___| |  
  | '_ ` _ \ / _ \ / _` |   / __/ __| |  
  | | | | | | (_) | (_| |   \__ \__ \ |  mod_ssl - Apache Interface to SSLeay  
  |_| |_| |_|\___/ \__,_|___|___/___/_|  http://www.engelschall.com/sw/mod_ssl/
                       |_____|         
  _____________________________________________________________________________

                                         ``Commercialization is not the answer.
                                           Commercialization is the question.
                                           NO is the answer.''
                                                -- Ralf S. Engelschall

  PATENTS - or the US citizens and the RSA patent

  [When you're not an US citizen you can skip this document, of course.]

  ATTENTION: THIS INFORMATION IS PROVIDED AS IS FOR YOUR INFORMATION ONLY AND
  WITHOUT ANY GUARANTY. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY
  VIOLATIONS YOU MAKE AFTER READING THIS INFORMATION.

  When you're a US citizen and want to use the Apache+mod_ssl+SSLeay
  combination to establish your SSL-aware webserver you should be very
  carefully because of US patents which apply to algorithms used inside
  SSLeay. Especially the US-only patent No. 4,405,829 ("Cryptographic
  Communications System and Method (RSA)" is important here. Although it will
  expire on September 20, 2000 it will up to this date force you to license
  any RSA implementations (SSLeay's RSA code is such an implementation!) from
  the patent holder (RSA Data Security, Inc, USA). 

  Although you can build SSLeay to use RSA DSI's RSAref library (which is
  freely available in the US) you're only allowed to use this under very
  special conditions. Actually it means you can use your webserver only for
  research and non-commercial purposes (but the RSAref license is interpreted
  differently every time you ask, so don't rely on this). And there is really
  no chance that RSA DSI would ever allow licensing of RSAref for other
  purposes. There is only one known exception: Some governmental or educational
  organizations already have RSA licenses which apply to their members. When
  you're a member of such an organization check with your legal department.
  Perhaps you've luck and you can use RSA implementations without problems.
  But the chance is minimal...

  So the only solution to establish your commercial production webserver is to
  buy an RSA license together, usually together with the commercial variant of
  RSAref from RSA DSI (the BSAFE library which is then linked against SSLeay
  instead of RSAref). But here again you have two problems: First, as I was
  told, such a RSA license is very expensive: A single per-server license
  costs you around $3,000 for a one time purchase or around $1100 per year on
  an "annual subscription". And second (even when you want to pay this price)
  RSA DSI doesn't give out single server licenses to end users. They sell RSA
  licenses only to companies in masses (usually as a source code license on a
  per development team basis for about $25,000).

  So what to do? Of course, some people seem to just ignore the patent issue
  and complicated licensing area and hope to survive until September 20, 2000.
  Because after this date they can legally use RSA implementations in the US
  without licenses. But this is silence approach illegal and I strongly advice
  you to NOT do this. You have to license RSA!
  
  There is only one official and legal Apache solution for your situation: You
  have to buy a commercial Apache+XXXX SSL solution from a company who
  licensed RSA in masses and gives you a reasonable end user price (between
  $100 and not more than $1000 per server). Included in their package is
  usually the "Single CPU Advanced Cryptography License for RSA" from RSA DSI
  which allows you to use RSA with this single server. The XXXX component
  above is usually the binary for the SSL stuff the vendor created for their
  Apache solution. For some vendors XXXX is actually mod_ssl+SSLeay+BSAFE
  (e.g. RedHat Secure Webserver), or Apache-SSL+SSLeay+BSAFE (e.g. Covalent
  Raven SSL Module), or Sioux+SSLeay (e.g. C2Net's Stronghold).

  But usually you want to use your own full-source Apache+mod_ssl+SSLeay
  bundle instead of a half-source Apache+XXXX bundle. So, what can you do?
  The question which has been arisen in the Apache US community was: ``Can
  someone who bought a legal license for RSA (through buying a commercial
  Apache SSL server package) use the preferred non-commercial, freeware
  alternative instead?''.

  I cannot give you an answer here. First because I'm not a lawyer, second
  because I'm not a US citizen and third because I want to stay out of this
  legal stuff. But as it looks to me, US citizens usually think of the
  situation as driving through an empty intersection with a stop sign. You may
  not actually come to a complete stop if no one else is around but if you ask
  a police officer for permission, they will not tell you its ok to do it.

  So, as I was told, a lot of US citizens did the following tricky approach:
  They selected the cheapest commercial Apache SSL solution on the market and
  bought it to get the "Single CPU Advanced Cryptography License for RSA" for
  a reasonable price. But instead of installing the package they just shelved
  it and installed their preferred full-source Apache+mod_ssl+SSLeay bundle.  
  
  I don't know how to judge this approach, but it looks to me that it is the
  only reasonable way to go for the US citizens in order to use
  Apache+mod_ssl+SSLeay in the United States. 
  
  I just tell you this for your information.
  So, make your _OWN_ opinion and decisions...

