The Evitability of Software Patents

Holmes, Neville (2000) The Evitability of Software Patents. Computer, 33 (3). pp. 30-34. ISSN 0018-9162

Preview

PDF - Requires a PDF viewer
280Kb

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/2.825692

Abstract

Responding to Kenneth Nichols' recent article in Computer ("The Age of Software Patents," April 1999, pp. 25-31), the author disputes the two claims: "software patents are neither inherently good nor bad" and "software patents are here to stay." The author thinks software patents are not impersonal technology, but rather a part of an intellectual patent system that is a social artifact. Because all social artifacts are fair game for judgments, software patents fall into that category. Not only does the author think it reasonable that an interested party examine the ethics and morality of any branch of the legal system (of which software patents and copyrights are a part), but he feels professionals in relevant areas have a social duty to do so. After exploring several arguments for software patents and copyrights, the author settles on the evitability of software patents, though he points out this does not ensure they will be avoided. However, he thinks there are good arguments for avoiding software patents for other more practical and just forms of monopoly for software.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. Copyright 2001 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.
Keywords:	intellectual property, patent law, software patents, WIPO
Subjects:	280000 Information, Computing and Communication Sciences > 280300 Computer Software 360000 Policy and Political Science > 360200 Policy and Administration > 360203 Research, Science and Technology Policy 390000 Law, Justice and Law Enforcement > 390100 Law > 390114 Intellectual Property
ID Code:	2001
Deposited By:	Mr Neville Holmes
Deposited On:	26 Sep 2007
Last Modified:	09 Jan 2008 02:30
ePrint Statistics:	View statistics for this ePrint

Repository Staff Only: item control page