[1] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

software law
     
         software may, under various circumstances and in
        various countries, be restricted by patent or copyright or
        both.  most commercial software is sold under some kind of
        software license.
     
        a patent normally covers the design of something with a
        function such as a machine or process.  copyright restricts
        the right to make and distribute copies of something written
        or recorded, such as a song or a book of recipies.  software
        has both these aspects - it embodies functional design in the
        algorithms and data structures it uses and it could also be
        considered as a recording which can be copied and "performed"
        run.
     
        "look and feel" lawsuits attempt to monopolize well-known
        command languages; some have succeeded.  copyrights on
        command languages enforce gratuitous incompatibility, close
        opportunities for competition, and stifle incremental
        improvements.
     
        software patents are even more dangerous; they make every
        design decision in the development of a program carry a risk
        of a lawsuit, with draconian pretrial seizure.  it is
        difficult and expensive to find out whether the techniques you
        consider using are patented; it is impossible to find out
        whether they will be patented in the future.
     
        the proper use of copyright is to prevent software piracy
        - unauthorised duplication of software.  this is completely
        different from copying the idea behind the program in the same
        way that photocopying a book differs from writing another book
        on the same subject.
     
        usenet newsgroup: news:misc.legal.computing.
     
        "the software developer's and marketer's legal companion",
        gene k. landy, 1993, aw, 0-201-62276-9.
     
        1994-11-16
     
     
see also:
copyright software license algorithm look and feel copyright software patent 
software piracy usenet lt;news:misc.legal.computinggt; 

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