IP: PGP is back

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Jon Callas <jon () pgp com>
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 12:04:46 -0700
To: dave () farber net
Cc: Jon Callas <jon () pgp com>
Subject: Dave: PGP is back

Dave,

I thought you -- and IPers -- would want to hear this from the horse's
mouth.

PGP is back. Our new company, PGP Corporation, has bought the PGP
assets from Network Associates.

I'm enclosing my letter from our web site below, but please let me know if
you'd like more details. I'm presently at Crypto in Santa Barbara,
but there's a network here.

     Jon


<http://www.pgp.com/cto.php>

"The report of my death has been greatly exaggerated." -- Mark Twain

It is with great pleasure that I get to write this letter. As you can see
from our Media Release and announcement of PGP 8.0, PGP is alive and very
well, with substantive plans for the future. There is a FAQ elsewhere on the
web site that describes many of the nuts and bolts details about the new PGP
Corporation.

As the CTO, I know that we have a large, technically savvy user base that
cares deeply about our products. This letter is for you. As in Phil¹s CEO
letter, you will see we are focusing on three themes ­ continuity,
relationship, and innovation.

First of all continuity - you will be glad to hear that we will publish
source code. This is very important to us. It's very important to our
investors, too. They understand that one of the main reasons people trust
PGP is that its source is available. Our forthcoming source release will be
for PGP 8.

We also believe in the OpenPGP protocols and standards. We actively support
the IETF as well as other organizations that help spread the use of the
technology.

There will also be a freeware release of PGP 8. As always, you'll be able to
use PGP free for non-commercial use. However, if you use PGP for commercial
purposes -- which means that you're using it for something that makes you
money -- then please buy it.

Second, about relationship. Much of the passion in the worldwide crypto
community comes from strongly held beliefs that quality crypto such as PGP
is necessary and important. For our joint relationship to work, we need a
fair exchange of value so that we can continue building products with the
quality you've come to expect from PGP.

If you think what we are doing -- and how we are doing it -- is important,
and you're using our technology for your profit, please pay for it. This is
especially important to us because we publish our source code. We have been
told that publishing source code and freeware leads to unpaid software
licenses. Help us prove the cynics wrong.

Third, about innovation. We have a lot of ideas about how we can make PGP
better, and we hope you'll find them as exciting as we do. These new
technologies will start showing up in less than a year, focused on improving
PGP's ease of use. I look forward to discussing these with you and getting
your input.

Thank you for being interested enough in PGP's ongoing success to read this
far. I hope you're looking forward to PGP's future as much as we are.

Jon Callas
CTO
PGP Corporation



------ End of Forwarded Message

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