[9fans] secstore and PAKserver

[lucio@proxima.alt.za]

I note in /sys/src/cmd/auth/secstore/pak.c:

	// PAK is an encrypted key exchange protocol designed by Philip MacKenzie et al.
	// It is patented and use outside Plan 9 requires you get a license.
	// (All other EKE protocols are patented as well, by Lucent or others.)

I want to leverage the functionality of the secstore for a different
application (I'm not yet ready to publicize the details, but I will to
anyone who shows some interest), but this seems to put a bit of a
spanner in the works.  Naturally, I can prototype with it, but in the
long term I have either to licence the PAK stuff (who do I contact?)
or to replace the code with an analogous facility.

Has the licence been waved for p9p?  What are the terms of the
licence?  Does anyone know of licence free options to perform a
similar function?  I suppose I ought to ask what is so special about
PAK, too or, more to the point, what does it do that made Bell Labs
choose it for the secstore?  Maybe if I understood PAK better I'd be
able to decide whether it is as important in my application as it was
for the secstore.

++L