In article <199802122339.PAA20819@andare.fugue.com> you write:
> 
> > Just to bury some netbsd relevant info here (is anyone else still
> > paying attention? ;-)) I got a email note from APC saying they would
> > license the APC Smart-UPS protocol for a nominal $50 fee.  Heck, I'll
> > pay the $50 bucks if it will let me implement the full daemon and if I
> > could then donate the code to NetBSD.
> 
> Do they make you sign anything, or is it just a fee you pay?

I did this a while back.  I made sure I got it and it looked good
_before_ I bought the unit (Smart-UPS 2200 -- I wasn't gong to drop that
much money on a product unless I was damn sure I knew everything I might
want to know about it first) and I had to sign an NDA.  And not only can
I not distribute source for my software, but no binaries either
(especially not for a fee -- They don't want me to compete with
PowerChute, I guess). 

Still, at the time it was the best offer going. Most of the companies
wouldn't give out anything under any circumstances (one told me that
Compaq was the only company they'd ever given the information to).
Interestingly, all the people I talked to at the companies seemed to
think (speaking for themselves) that the situation sucked, and that the
protocols should be available. And APC was nice to deal with. So, don't
hassle 'em. Relative to industry average, they're the good guys.