MIT Statement on PGP

[Hal Abelson <hal@martigny.ai.mit.edu>]

				FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, May 26, 1994
				Contact: Ken Campbell, Director, MIT News Office
						(617 253-2703 or 2700
				
	
NON-COMMERCIAL USE
MIT Issues Software Codes 
To Promote Internet Privacy



The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has issued--for 
non-commercial use--a free public software package that will allow 
people to send private coded messages on electronic networks in 
the United States.

The release provides non-commercial U.S. users of the Internet 
with the ability to obtain secure communication and data 
protection. Commercial versions have been licensed to over four 
million users.

The software, known as PGP Version 2.6 (for "pretty good privacy") 
uses the RSAREF(TM) Cryptographic Toolkit, supplied by RSA Data 
Security, Inc. of Redwood City, Calif. It is being released by MIT 
with the agreement of RSADSI.  

PGP 2.6 is fully licensed, for U.S. non-commercial users, to use 
public-key technology that has been licensed by MIT and Stanford 
University to RSA Data Security and Public Key Partners.

Public-key technology gives users of electronic mail the ability 
to sign messages in an unforgeable way, as well as the ability to 
send confidential messages that can be read only by the intended 
recipients, without any prior need to exchange secret keys.  

"This agreement solves the problem of software being distributed 
on the Internet which potentially infringed the intellectual 
property of MIT and the licensee, RSA, " said Professor James D. 
Bruce, vice president for information systems.

Although prior versions of PGP have been available on the 
Internet, the potential infringement of MIT and Stanford 
University patents has prevented it from coming into widespread 
adoption.  
END