Re: LYNX-DEV Bug/Limitation?

[David Woolley]

> 
> Hi,
> I've tried to use Lynx in a situation, but it gives me this error:
> 
> "Alert!: This client does not contain support for HTTPS URLs. "
> 
> 
> Will this be solved in the next release?

No, because it is not a technical problem, but a legal one.  Your email
address tends to suggest that you are not a person with permanent US
resident status and in the USA; versions which support https cannot be
exported to you from the USA.

Also, within the USA, versions that implement HTTPS must use RSAREF, because
of patents (the USA has software patents).  RSAREF cannot be supplied royalty
free to commercial users.  GPLed code cannot be restricted to non-commercial
users, so it is not legal to distribute SSL Lynx even in the USA.

There are probably leaked versions, but most people on the list are in the
USA and couldn't safely give you a reference.  I've never needed it, so I
haven't bothered looking hard.

There are some interesting questions about whether it is legal to create and
distribute an SSL Lynx outside the USA; they relate to the rules for
derived works under the GPL.  (The GPL allows the licensor to restrict 
distribution to exclude countries where it would infringe software patents, 
but it is not clear to me whether they are permitted to do this when 
deriving from a work without the restriction.)

Details of workarounds for people in the USA with permanent resident status
are, I believe on the web site, although I'm not sure whether they comply
with the GPL.  There may even be hints as to where to obtain grey copies.
A good discussion of the patent and export control issues on HTTPS is in
the O'Reilly book on Apache.

You might also want to take into consideration that the cost of breaking
SSL as implemented in the export versions of MSIE and Netscape is probably
less than US$100, using standard, computer store, hardware (depreciation
cost and electricity).