[noise] The STROBE lite framework

[Michael Hamburg]

Update on IPR.  For what it’s worth, I’m not a lawyer.  Hopefully this news will make it reasonable to improve on and adopt this protocol framework.

> On Jul 30, 2015, at 6:06 PM, Michael Hamburg <mike at shiftleft.org> wrote:
> Disclaimer:
> I can’t release the code yet, because I have to clear it with legal.

I still don’t have clearance to release the code.  Maybe later.  Specs should be OK once we’re confident in the exact design.

>  I don’t know of patents that cover this framework, but my company (Rambus/CRI) can file patents on anything novel I came up with (i.e. a few things, but much of this design is derivative).  I’m working on this at work, and even if I wasn’t, all my base would belong to CRI because this relates to foreseeable company business.  

I talked to PatCom, and we agreed not to patent STROBE lite, but see below.

> It is also possible to build protocols out of this that infringe patents, including CRI’s existing patents.

This is still true.  And of course there could be implementation patents too, because having mines on just one side of the trench just isn’t enough :-/

> ... (This is CRI’s patented “key tree" algorithm.)  …

There’s been discussion of continuating the key tree patent to clarify how it applies here.  I don’t know if that will happen or not.

So outside of the keytree trick it should be safe-ish to use and improve STROBE lite.

Cheers,
— Mike