uslurper - Slashdot User

Submission + - Is there a way to GPL ideas instead of patent? (slashdot.org)

Submitted by uslurper on Friday March 26, 2010 @07:04PM

uslurper writes: Is there a way to GPL ideas instead of patent?

Lets say I were to invent something (besides software) for the benefit of society. And I wanted to share my idea freely with the world so that everyone can benefit from it.
Patents are expensive me being a poor Joe, and just wanting to share my idea, I'm not going to patent something just to give it away for free.
If I just told everyone I knew, what would stop them from taking that idea and patenting it and thus 'owning' the idea?

Is there a way to freely publish an idea in such a way that it will not be patentable? -similar to say the GPL software licence but with allowance for the 3rd party to profit? (since they are actually selling goods)

Submission + - Request for a better File Transfer Protocol (wikipedia.org) 5

Submitted by uslurper on Tuesday December 29, 2009 @03:32PM

uslurper writes: Request for a better File Transfer Protocol

I work for a financial company that acts as a 'middleman'. We have always been involved with securely transferring data, but we will be increasing our use of data transfer substantially.
However I am having a difficult time managing and automating the data transfers among various clients and vendors.
I have some programming skill so I can create or customize as i see fit, but the fact that i have to customize each and every connection wastes my time.
There does not seem to be one widely accepted solution.

Here is what I need:
1. Send and receive files.
2. Data must be secured using a HIPAA accepted method.
3. Transfers must be automated.

Here are my best options, but each has its own drawbacks.

A. FTP
FTP would work great except it is very hard to work around firewalls. This is due to the way it handles "active" and "passive" modes.
Many network admins do not understand its peculiarities.
Also, the various encryption methods used means it is not a common setup.

B. SSL web page.
HTTPS is well known and reliable, but its a pain to automate.

C. Email
Email can be automated, but it requires the files to be encrypted before transfer using PGP or other methods. PGP is being used less and less, and frankly it can be a pain sometimes.

So, is there a better solution available?

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