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From: terry@cs.weber.edu (A Wizard of Earth C)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk,misc.int-property,alt.suit.att-bsdi,comp.unix.bsd
Subject: Re: Patents: What they are. What they aren't. Other factors.
Message-ID: <1992Oct31.043526.11350@fcom.cc.utah.edu>
Date: 31 Oct 92 04:35:26 GMT
Article-I.D.: fcom.1992Oct31.043526.11350
References: <1992Oct23.204711.17987@fcom.cc.utah.edu> <id.ZIFU.X4D@ferranti.com> <1992Oct27.172831.22782@fcom.cc.utah.edu> <id.SSJU.KXL@ferranti.com>
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In article <id.SSJU.KXL@ferranti.com>, peter@ferranti.com (peter da silva) writes:
|> > Nothing in the patent system represents as large an obstacle to technology
|> > reuse in the software industry, the main "anti patent" platform, as a
|> > copyright...
|>
|> Not at all. I can implement an interface myself without falling afoul of
|> a copyright. there is no contamination defense in patents.
|>
|> > I think the fact that the software industry has been fighting copyrights
|> > with new innovation not covered in previous copyright is the reason the
|> > software industry is so vital (in the sense of "being alive") today.
|>
|> Copyrights don't protect ideas (innovation, whatever), so this is pretty much
|> a complete non-sequiter.
Look-and-feel suits are based on a platform of copyright infringement, not
patent infringement. This is the type of "software patent" I'm against, since
copyright protection can be maintained *much* longer than patent protection.
The benefit of a patent-like mechanism with copyrights disallowed in this case
is disclosure; it's not always possible to reverse engineer, and trading the
authors disclosure for a time-limited monopoly is a fair trade.
Terry Lambert
terry@icarus.weber.edu
terry_lambert@novell.com
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.
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