[svlug] SSH Licensing

[patrick@fezbox.com]

I realize this comes up from time to time, but I'm still a little unclear
about a few things in the v1 SSH license.

According to the licensing documentation, I'm able to include a copy of
SSH along with other free software in a distribution even if I charge a
modest fee for distributing the media:

[excerpt]

  As an exception to the above rule, putting this program on CD-ROMs
  containing other free software is explicitly permitted even when a
  modest distribution fee is charged for the CD, as long as this software
  is not a primary selling argument for the CD. 

The idea of a 'modest distribution fee' is a vague at best.  How much is
modest?  $10?  $40?  $100?  If the product comes with some kind of
value-add (ie. customization to a particular person -- open sourced, of
course), surely the interpretation of 'modest' would be different than if
a company was knocking off a few hundred thousand copies of the same
image.  As the price for distribution goes up, does allowable amount for a
modest fee go up proportionally?

Also, I haven't been following the recent changes to how the US government
handles companies selling products with encryption technology.  I'm
assuming that if I want to release a product with SSH bundled in it,
I'd have to have two separate versions (in my case, one with ssh for North
American distribution, and one without for International) and somehow
have to verify that the person is within the US or Canada before allowing 
them to purchase or download a copy of version with encryption in it. Is
my interpretation of this correct? 

Any advice is appreciated.


--
patrick at fezbox.com  |  http://www.fezbox.com


--
echo "unsubscribe svlug" | mail majordomo at svlug.org
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ to unsubscribe
see http://www.svlug.org/mdstuff/lists.shtml for posting guidelines.