Sued for using HTTPS: Big brands told to cough up in crypto patent fig
tangor
5:17 am on Dec 1, 2015 (gmt 0)
Scores of big brands – from AT&T and Yahoo! to Netflix, GoPro and Macy's – are being sued because their HTTPS websites allegedly infringe an encryption patent.
It appears in May this year CryptoPeak Solutions, based in Longview, Texas, got its hands on US Patent 6,202,150, which describes "auto-escrowable and auto-certifiable cryptosystems."
CryptoPeak reckons TLS-secured websites that use elliptic curve cryptography are infringing the patent – so it's suing owners of HTTPS websites that use ECC. Top tip: loads of websites use ECC these days to securely encrypt their traffic.
CryptoPeak reckons TLS-secured websites that use elliptic curve cryptography are infringing the patent – so it's suing owners of HTTPS websites that use ECC.
Um, did those web sites write the code for HTTPS? No, most of them are using pre-made software for it. It seems to me that if they (almost) might have some merit by going after Microsoft (for IIS) or Apache and/or the companies/organizations making the browsers. Or possibly the companies selling the SSL certs?
Sorry, didn't mean to try to inject some logic into a frivolous lawsuit...
nakkers
6:28 pm on Dec 1, 2015 (gmt 0)
I've said it before and I'll say it again, the patent system needs a real reform.
lucy24
10:29 pm on Dec 1, 2015 (gmt 0)
the patent system needs a real reform.
I was thinking what fun it would be if the USPTO still required all applications to include a working model.
toidi
1:41 pm on Dec 3, 2015 (gmt 0)
Where is the language that describes your meaning?
We've seen positive results, so we're starting to use HTTPS as a ranking signal. For now it's only a very lightweight signal — affecting fewer than 1% of global queries, and carrying less weight than other signals such as high-quality content — while we give webmasters time to switch to HTTPS. But over time, we may decide to strengthen it, because we’d like to encourage all website owners to switch from HTTP to HTTPS to keep everyone safe on the web.
coerce verb co·erce \kō-ˈərs\
: to make (someone) do something by using force or threats
: to get (something) by using force or threats
There are many webmasters who felt compelled to use https because goog is using it as a ranking signal. A ranking signal can be positive or negative. Either way, it can affect someone's livelihood. Using your ability to make or break one's livelihood to 'encourage' them into doing something they don't want to do is coercion. See above.
fathom
7:14 pm on Dec 3, 2015 (gmt 0)
Unfortunately, you can equally do this:
User-agent: googlebot Disallow: /
To prevent Google's alleged attempt to force you to use their FREE listing.
That quote was from a year & a half ago... There are still tons of http:// in top results
