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> then how do you protect a proprietary hardware design > >In general, if something makes it hard for people to keep the specs of >hardware secret, I would consider that a step forward. The >concealment of hardware designs for PC hardware has been a great >problem for the free software community. I have little sympathy with >someone who wants to keep hardware specs secret merely so as to beat >out someone else. I don't wish to imflame or to provoke, but I must take exception to your statement that you "have little sympathy with someone who wants to keep hardware specs secret merely so as to beat out someone else". If a company puts money, time and considerable risk into an effort to design and bring a product to market they want to make sure that effort ends up paying a dividend rather than being a losing proposistion. If they develop a novel way to speed up graphics or to lower the cost of a disk controller board or just do a really good job of designing a "widget", why should everyone else have the privledge of copying that design and in essence "stealing" their profit (which might not exist even if you do buy their product, depending on the market)? Companies are not greedy, malevolent leeches. Companies exist to produce something that has value to users who show their need for the product by buying it. If people feel that a company is not worthy of the profit they derive from producing goods, then they can simply not buy those goods. But that is no reason to feel that the property of the company should be taken from them. That is just what a trade secret is, Property! So, now that I have gotten off of my soapbox, do you care to reply as to why you feel that a company should not be entitled to trade secret protection? Rick Collins Rick Collins Email: redsp@writeme.com re:DSP, A Signal Processing Solutions Company P.O. Box 1253 Warrenton, VA 20188-1253 540-349-9606 Web Page: http://www.angelfire.com/biz/redsp/