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PKWare Files a Patent Application for Secure .zip

Posted by michael on from the dumb-de-dumb-dumb dept.

prostoalex writes "The battle of ZIP formats might intensify as PKWare filed an application with USPTO to obtain a patent on its Secure Zip technology, which pretty much involves archiving with strong cryptography. If the patent gets granted, PKWare will license its algorithms for other software manufacturers. A representative of Aladdin Systems summed it up: "The good thing about the .zip file format was that you knew you could send it to everyone. Now that's getting broke.""

1 of 281 comments (clear)

  1. score -1 obvious by intermodal · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    wow. obviously, for windows the gnu zip (gz) is available, as well as for Mac/Linux/BSD natively. Secure? encrypt it with PGP or GnuPG. Problem solved. I'm sure a plugin can be written for the lazy, though.

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