> If the US federal government owns this algorithm, then it can't be
> patented.
I'm not sure if you are referring to SHA1 in particular, or in general.
While I don't know about SHA-1, the US Government *can* own patents.
For example, here's one that's actually kinda relevent. :)
Workflow management employing role-based access control
Inventors: Barkley; John (Darnestown, MD).
Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary
of Commerce (Washington, DC).
Appl. No.:980,908
Filed: Dec. 1, 1997
A workflow sequence specified by a process definition is managed by a
workflow management system which enacts each segment in the order
specified by that process definition. Role-based access control (RBAC)
is used to define membership of individuals in groups, i.e., to assign
individuals to roles, and to then activate the roles with respect to the
process at appropriate points in the sequence. Any individual belonging
to the active role can perform the next step in the business process.
Changes in the duties and responsibilities of individuals as they change
job assignments are greatly simplified, as their role memberships are
simply reassigned; the workflow process is unaffected.
