Re: Elliptic-Curve Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange draft

[der Mouse <mouse%Rodents.Montreal.QC.CA@localhost>]

>> [...] Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman (ECDH) key agreement [...]
> What's the current patent status on that area?  Is it possible to
> implement any cryptography on elliptic curves without getting a
> patent license from the patent holders (certicom? Others?).

I haven't looked into it, but I'd guess there's a decent chance that
the patent in question is a USA patent only, in which case certainly
most of the world can benefit and I think standardizing it would be a
Good Thing.  (Aren't there jurisdictions that forbid algorithm patents
in practice as well as theory?)

Even if patents are held in many jurisdictions, the patent holder may
be willing to grant an irrevocable sublicensable license for use with
ssh; such things have happened before, and in the presence of such a
thing I see no reason not to standardize such a key-exchange method.

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