[1297] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: ciphers - patented then 'released'
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Dave Koontz)
Fri Aug 1 12:18:02 1997
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 97 13:42:02 PDT
From: koontz@netapp.com (Dave Koontz)
To: cryptography@c2.net, rodney@sabletech.com
>I gather DES was originally patented (by IBM?). Now some people are
>looking at CAST, which is apparently patented but being freely shared by
>Entrust. Does anyone know where there are references to the DES patent,
>and/or discussion of it's being released for use without a fee?
>
>What I'm looking for is documentation to show CAST is freely usable, and as
>a comparison I am wondering what was done to make DES freely usable.
No info on CAST. Having been involved in cryptography during the DES intro,
there was info in the Federal Register in 1977, 1978 and 1979 on DES and
IBM's patents.
I believe you can find info in the Matyas/Meyers book "Cryptography", or
if all else fails:
url:<http://patent.womplex.ibm.com/>
IBM has a patent search mechanism.
I don't think you can find the federal register for those years on line.
