Microsoft I/P Killed E-mail Sender ID Standard?
According to a September 24, 2004 report from ZDNet UK News "A Microsoft-backed proposal for verifying the source of email has been shelved by the Internet engineers working to turn it from specification to standard. Closing shop comes roughly a week after the IETF's MTA Authorisation Records in DNS (MARID) working group voted down a proposal by Microsoft to make some of the company's intellectual property a mandatory part of the solution. The group decided that Microsoft's insistence on keeping secret a possible patent application on its proposed technology was unacceptable."
The co-chairs of the Madrid working group stated on September 11, 2004 that "On the issue of ignoring patent claims, the working group has at least rough consensus that the patent claims should not be ignored. Additionally, there is at least rough consensus that the participants of the working group cannot accurately describe the specific claims of the patent application. This stems from the fact that the patent application is not publicly available. Given this, it is the opinion of the co-chairs that MARID should not undertake work on alternate algorithms reasonably thought to be covered by the patent application. We do feel that future changes regarding the patent claim or its associated license could significantly change the consensus of the working group, and at such a time it would be appropriate to consider new work of this type."
However, according to a September 25 statement reportedly made by Craig Spiezle, Director, Safety Technology and Strategy Group for Microsoft, "From the onset, Microsoft has confirmed that any potential patent rights that Microsoft may eventually be granted will be provided to all users, implementers and distributors of the Sender ID specification under Microsoft's royalty free license. Microsoft will not revoke its offer to extend this license to anyone now and in perpetuity. The information disclosed by Microsoft regarding its patent applications and its license terms meet and exceed the IETF requirements for such disclosure."
The co-chairs of the Madrid working group stated on September 11, 2004 that "On the issue of ignoring patent claims, the working group has at least rough consensus that the patent claims should not be ignored. Additionally, there is at least rough consensus that the participants of the working group cannot accurately describe the specific claims of the patent application. This stems from the fact that the patent application is not publicly available. Given this, it is the opinion of the co-chairs that MARID should not undertake work on alternate algorithms reasonably thought to be covered by the patent application. We do feel that future changes regarding the patent claim or its associated license could significantly change the consensus of the working group, and at such a time it would be appropriate to consider new work of this type."
However, according to a September 25 statement reportedly made by Craig Spiezle, Director, Safety Technology and Strategy Group for Microsoft, "From the onset, Microsoft has confirmed that any potential patent rights that Microsoft may eventually be granted will be provided to all users, implementers and distributors of the Sender ID specification under Microsoft's royalty free license. Microsoft will not revoke its offer to extend this license to anyone now and in perpetuity. The information disclosed by Microsoft regarding its patent applications and its license terms meet and exceed the IETF requirements for such disclosure."
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