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Re: Strawmen and Urban Legends


From: Rui Miguel Silva Seabra
Subject: Re: Strawmen and Urban Legends
Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2006 12:13:04 +0000

Qui, 2006-12-28 às 11:03 +0100, Stefaan A Eeckels escreveu:
> On 27 Dec 2006 21:07:02 -0800
> dt@soundmathtech.com wrote:
> 
> > According to those anti-swpatent folks vocoder would be unpatentable
> > today...
> 
> Overstating the case (like some of the anti-swpatent folk) doesn't
> help. 
> 
> Of course, a device that peforms a particular function, like a
> vocorder, can be patented even if it uses a DSP chip and software. You
> patent the complete device, not its components. 

The people who are anti-software patents -- and not some extremist
nut-cases only Arlene Mcarthy seemed to know about (really nobody else
knew who where those guys she mentioned, and the only hits they got on
google were from her press releases!) -- advocate that a machine which
contains software may be suitable for a patent if it satisfies all the
criteria. Nevertheless, the software component can't be patented, as
declared in most countries patent law (only a few, like the US, are in
violation of TRIPS, at least according to my interpretation which sees
software delegated to Berne Convention, and Berne Convention delegates
it do Droit d'Auteur/Copyright).

However, some people still hold to the "lie" of "all fields of
technology" TRIPs includes.

Software is *not* a field of technology.

Software *can*be* a field of technology in certain conditions.
Software *can*be* art in certain conditions.
Software *can*be* entertainment in certain conditions.
Software *is* speech, most of the time.

Etc...

-- 
+ No matter how much you do, you never do enough -- unknown
+ Whatever you do will be insignificant,
| but it is very important that you do it -- Gandhi
+ So let's do it...?

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