

              POLICY ON COMMERCIAL USE AND DISTRIBUTION OF KERMIT

                                 Frank da Cruz

              Columbia University Center for Computing Activities

                                September, 1985


The KERMIT file transfer protocol has always been open, available, and free to
all.  The protocol was developed at the Columbia University Center for
Computing Activities, as were the first several KERMIT programs.  Columbia has
shared these programs freely with the worldwide computing community since 1981,
and as a result many individuals and institutions have contributed their own
improvements or new implementations in the same spirit.  In this manner, the
number of different systems supporting KERMIT implementations has grown from
three to over 100 in less than four years.  If Columbia had elected to keep
the protocol secret, to restrict access to source code, or to license the
software, the protocol would never have spread to cover so many systems, nor
would the programs be in use at so many sites, nor would the quality of many of
the implemementations be so high.

Although KERMIT is free and available to anyone who requests it, it is not in
the "public domain".  The protocol, the manuals, the Columbia implementations,
and many of the contributed implementations bear copyright notices dated 1981
or later, and include a legend like

  Copyright (C) 1985, Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.
  Permission is granted to any individual or institution to use, copy, or
  redistribute this software so long as it is not sold for profit, provided
  this copyright notice is retained.

The copyright notice is to protect KERMIT, Columbia University, and the
various contributors from having their work usurped by others and sold as a
product.  In addition, the covering letter which we include with a KERMIT tape
states that KERMIT can be passed along to others; "we ask only that profit not
be your goal, credit be given where it is due, and that new material be sent
back to us so that we can maintain a definitive and comprehensive set of KERMIT
implementations".  

Within this framework, it is acceptable to charge a reproduction fee when
supplying KERMIT to others.  The reproduction fee may be designed to recover
costs of media, packaging, printing, shipping, order processing, or any
computer use required for reproduction.  The fee should not reflect any program
or documentation development effort, and it should be be independent of how
many implementations of KERMIT appear on the medium or where they came from.
It should not be viewed as a license fee.  For instance, when Columbia ships a
KERMIT tape, there is a $100.00 reproduction fee which includes a 2400' reel of
magnetic tape, two printed manuals, various flyers, a box, and postage; there
is an additional $100.00 order processing charge if an invoice must be sent.
The tape includes all known versions of KERMIT, including sources and
documentation.

Commercial institutions may make unlimited internal use of KERMIT, and
KERMIT may be installed on timesharing systems where customers are charged for
system use, so long as they are not charged more for using KERMIT than for
using any other program.

A question raised with increasing frequency is whether a company may
incorporate KERMIT into its products.  A hardware vendor may wish to include
KERMIT with its standard software.  A software house may wish to incorporate
KERMIT protocol into its communications package, or to distribute it along
with some other product.  A timesharing vendor or dialup database may wish to
provide KERMIT for downloading.  All these uses of KERMIT are permissible,
with the following provisos:

. A KERMIT program may not be sold as a product in and of itself.  In addition
  to violating the prevailing spirit of sharing and cooperation, commercial
  sale of a product called "KERMIT" could violate the trade mark which is held
  on that name by Henson Associates, Inc., creators of THE MUPPET SHOW.

. Existing KERMIT programs and documentation may be included with hardware or
  other software as part of a standard package, provided the price of the
  hardware or software product is not raised significantly beyond costs of
  reproduction of the KERMIT component.

. KERMIT protocol may be included in a multi-protocol communication package as
  one of the communication options, or as a communication feature of some
  other kind of software package, in order to enhance the attractiveness of the
  package.  KERMIT protocol file transfer and management should not be the
  primary purpose of the package.  The price of the package should not be
  raised significantly because KERMIT was included, and the vendor's literature
  should make a statement to this effect.

. Credit for development of the KERMIT protocol should be given to the Columbia
  University Center for Computing Activities, and customers should be advised
  that KERMIT is available for many systems for only a nominal fee from
  Columbia and from various user group organizations, such as DECUS and SHARE.

Columbia University may grant permission to any person or institution to
develop a KERMIT program for any particular system.  A commercial institution
that intends to distribute KERMIT under the conditions listed above should be
aware that other implementations of KERMIT for the same system may appear in
the standard KERMIT distribution at any time.  Columbia University encourages
all developers of KERMIT software and documentation to contribute their work
back to Columbia for further distribution.

Finally, Columbia University does not warrant in any way the KERMIT software
nor the accuracy of any related documentation, and neither the authors of any
KERMIT programs or documentation nor Columbia University nor any other
contributing institutions acknowledge any liability resulting from program or
documentation errors.

These are general guidelines; this is not a legal document to be searched for
loopholes.  To date, KERMIT has been freely shared by all who have taken the
time to do work on it, and no formal legalities have proven necessary.  The
guidelines are designed to allow commercial enterprises to participate in the
promulgation of KERMIT without seriously violating the KERMIT user community's
trust that KERMIT will continue to spread and improve at no significant cost to
themeselves.  The guidelines are subject to change at any time, should more
formal detail prove necessary.

Commercial organizations wishing to provide KERMIT to their customers should
write a letter stating their plans and their agreement to comply with the
guidelines listed above.  The letter should be addressed to:

	KERMIT Distribution
	Columbia University Center for Computing Activities
	612 West 115th Street
	New York, NY  10025




