Sender ID rated incompatible to Open Source

Found on ArsTechnica on Wednesday, 01 September 2004
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Microsoft's Sender ID solution to spam looks intriguing, and until recently, it seemed destined to become an Internet standard. In brief, Sender ID is designed to ensure that e-mail originates from the Internet domain it claims to come from.

Indeed, if the framework is looking less appealing right now, it's only because some say that Microsoft's licensing terms are incompatible with Open Source. Today the Apache Software Foundation has rejected Sender ID, arguing that while the license is royalty free, it is incompatible with Open Source, and thus the foundational properties of the Internet.

The current Microsoft Royalty-Free Sender ID Patent License Agreement terms are a barrier to any ASF project which wants to implement Sender ID. We believe the current license is generally incompatible with open source, contrary to the practice of open Internet standards, and specifically incompatible with the Apache License 2.0. Therefore, we will not implement or deploy Sender ID under the current license terms.

Additionally, Microsoft claims to have patents relating to Sender ID, but those patents have not been disclosed—something which makes many people rather nervous.

MS is free to bind and control users with its own software, but it shouldn't get a foot into the Open Source door. Every way begins with a first step; and I don't wan to see what's at the end if MS walks that way. Not as long as MS praises its proprietary systems and is against Open Source and Linux.