Subject: open protocols x proprietary protocols

From: victor nunes <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 17:05:14 -0300

Hello, I have a question about how to open protocols x proprietary
protocols, and I think that the IETF can help me.

the open protocols can I study them and learn how they work.
However, proprietary protocols, it is possible to study them? way they
operate, their packages and other features?.

For example, if I wanted to write a book about an article or book on some
proprietary protocols, I'd have to ask permission for the patent holders of
their protocols?

Thanks, Victor
-- 
“Encarada do ponto de vista da juventude, a vida parece um futuro
indefinidamente longo, ao passo que, na velhice, ela parece um passado
deveras curto. Assim, a vida no seu início se apresenta do mesmo modo
que as coisas quando as olhamos através de um binóculo usado ao contrário;
mas, ao
seu final, ela se parece com as coisas  tal qual são vistas quando o
binóculo
é usado de modo normal. Um homem precisa ter envelhecido e vivido
bastante para perceber como a vida é curta”.

        (Poema de Arthur Schopenhauer)

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From: Iljitsch van Beijnum <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 19 May 2010 14:07:08 +0200

On 17 mei 2010, at 22:05, victor nunes wrote:

> For example, if I wanted to write a book about an article or book on some proprietary protocols, I'd have to ask permission for the patent holders of their protocols?

You don't need to ask for permission to write a book if the country you're residing in has freedom of speech. Be careful with including material from third parties, though, you often need permission for that. Other than that you want to be clearly either fiction or fact, true fiction or untrue facts can cause trouble.

That being said: patents are published so no problem there. Some companies only provide information under NDA or forbid reverse engineering in their license, so if you publish such information they can get upset. Even more so if you publish trade secrets.