Store firmaer sagsøgt af patenttrold fordi de bruger HTTPS/SSL

En række store firmaer såsom AT&T, Netflix, GoPro, Yahoo! og Macy's er blevet sagsøgt af CryptoPeak Solutions, der ejer US Patent 6202150, der lyder som flg.:

1. A method and apparatus for generating public keys and a proof that the keys were generated by a specific algorithm comprising the steps of:
the user's system generating a random string of bits based on system parameters;
the user running a key generation algorithm to get a secret key and public key using the random string and public parameters;
the user constructing a proof being a string of bits whose public availability does not compromise the secret key and wherein said constructing of said proof requires access to said secret key, but at the same time said proof provides confidence to at least one of a plurality of other entities that said public key was generated properly by the specified algorithm, and wherein said confidence is gained without having access to any portion of said secret key.

Anklageskriftet skriver at firmaerne ved brug af HTTPS/SSL anvender Elliptic curve cryptography. Dog synes det ovenstående krav 1 ikke at omhandle Elliptic curve cryptography. 

CryptoPeak Solutions mener derfor, at alle, som bruger HTTPS/SSL, bryder deres patent. Patentet er oprindeligt blevet ansøgt af Dr. Adam Young og Dr Marcel Yung i 1997 og udstedt i 2001. Patentet udløber i starten af 2017. Det er siden blevet overtaget af CryptoPeak Solutions. 

Det 7 sider lange anklageskrift kan læses her. Ironisk nok fører dette link til en https-destination.

Billede: Jason Morrison, FreeImages.com

Kategori: Online  

Tags: retssag   https   ssl   kryptering   certifikat