Property RIghts in Keys

[Perry E. Metzger]

sbg at acw.com writes:
> It seems to me that a cryptographic key is property in the same sense that
> the formula for Coca Cola is property.

We're discussing certificates, not secret keys.

In theory, a secret key might be a trade secret.

However, a cert seems almost certainly *not* to be IP.

1) It can't be a trade secret, it is published.
2) It can't be patented.
3) It can't be copyrighted, it contains no creativity.

> Intellectual property need not be brought into being by a creative act.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property

Again, that only holds in limited circumstances that probably don't
include certificates. In particular, trade secret protection here
seems impossible.

Perry
-- 
Perry E. Metzger		perry at piermont.com

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