Bob Nielsen wrote in a message to Mike Bilow:
BN> Yes, Alan, I am aware of what you and Dale Heatherington
BN> have written under the GNU license. It's definitely a step
BN> in the right direction. I wonder how Bob views this
BN> software and its licensing (aprsmon and aprsd would both be
BN> considered reception applications):
BN> COPYRIGHT 1992,93,94,95: The APRS formats are provided to all
BN> radio amateurs for use in the amateur radio service. Anyone is
BN> encouraged to apply the APRS formats in the TRANSMISSION of
BN> position, weather, and status packets. However, the author
BN> reserves the ownership of these protocols for exclusive
BN> commercial application and for all reception and plotting
BN> applications. Other software engineers desiring to include
BN> APRS RECEPTION in their software for sale within or outside of
BN> the amateur community will require a license from the author.
BN> (very reasonably priced)
At least in the U.S., you cannot copyright a protocol. You can copyright a
protocol specification document which describes the protocol, but the protocol
itself is not subject to copyright. You can trademark the name of the
protocol, but this does not prohibit someone else from cloning the protocol
under a different name. You can patent a protocol, provided that the protocol
is novel and useful and meets certain other tests, but most protocols are not
patentable because they are just convenient codifications of some particular
implementation of a generally known technique. You can defend a protocol as a
trade secret, provided that you take precautions to avoid its disclosure, but
this allows anyone to reverse engineer the protocol.
This issue comes up repeatedly in connection with ham radio, especially with
regard to the newer data networking protocols. There is a great deal of
widespread misunderstanding about what can be protected, what cannot be
protected, and what mechanisms exist for the protection which is available.
Disclaimer: This is not legal advice; for legal advice, get your own lawyer.
-- Mike
