On Wed, 16 Mar 2005 09:24:43 +0800 Paolo Alexis Falcone <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > It doesn't work that way. Patents != Copyrights. Even lawyers would > confirm this. Even the purpose of copyrights and patents are being > misconstrued as being the same when in fact it's worlds apart.
Lawyers will always argue that way. That is why a judge is needed to resolve the differing points of view. But I agree that these two are different. However, they do share something in common. They are both used to protect the right of the creator of original work. > Copyrights are designed to protect authors from getting their writings > bootlegged and unduly claimed by other people. For writings to be > copyrighted, it must be original. Patents on the other hand were > designed to protect processes, machines, or products born of > manufacturing or composition (read: tangible product) that would have > to be novel and non-obvious. It must not have been part of prior art > or an obvious variation of prior art. I agree. Copyrights protect against illegal copying (hence the word). Patents protect processes, machines, etc. But both of these ultimately tries to protect the rights of the creator. > Software cannot qualify for patents given these conditions. Patenting > software would essentially lock the techniques (which are merely > aggregation of algorithms translated into language). This is different > from physically inventing something or doing something for ornamental > purposes - both which patents can protect, as real products were > produced in the process. They may be just aggregations of algorithms but it still required some human intervention to happen. This act, whether founded on noble causes or folly, is what a patent strives to protect. It distinguishes those who apply their knowledge from those who are simply knowledgeable. Our own society's progress is built on the aggregation and the application of knowledge. When a technique/process is patented, it may appear to lock progress. I don't believe it does. In my opinion, it raises the bar. It would get us past the process of simply building, say, a better mousetrap and instead force us to think of other ways to catch the mouse. Software are real products. It is something we interact with everyday. Therefore, it is something patents can protect. > It does take a lot of time and effort to generate software (I should > now, I am in the same business). While it does not miraculously appear > out of thin air, it doesn't qualify to be novel as it doesn't bring > any new tangible thing to the world - but merely an aggregate > expression of human ideas yet still within the intellectual realm. Concept and the application of concept are two different things. The former, intellectual yes. But the latter is tangible. Like I wrote above, it is something we physically interact with everyday. > Software is just algorithms aggregated into another language (there > are a lot of ways to combine certain algorithms, much more languages > to express the aggregation). It still remains as one thing though - an > expression of thought, an idea. For this case, copyright is more > appropriate. Copyrights merely protect the copyrightholder against those who would make copies of his work without his consent. Techniques and processes which are inherent in software should likewise be protected work of the person who spent the time and resources to conceive and develop them. While sharing this knowledge freely and openly would greatly help the community, the choice to do so is ultimately his own. There are many ways of how this can be abused. But consider the alternative. Some may choose not to share the knowledge instead if in the end they are not acknowledged for it. -------------------------------------- Registered Linux User #376704 Debian GNU/Linux 3.0r4 Die dulci freure. -- Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Official Website: http://plug.linux.org.ph Searchable Archives: http://marc.free.net.ph . To leave, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/plug . Are you a Linux newbie? To join the newbie list, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/ph-linux-newbie
