Whatever your position on software patents, or on patents in general, one thing is clear. Principled arguments are more interesting than unprincipled arguments.
Whatever your position on software patents, or on patents in general, one thing is clear. Principled arguments are more interesting than unprincipled arguments. I have recently begun writing about principled computing. Here, in no particular order, are my principles that relate to software. In other words, this is the baggage that I carry when I write or speak about software patents.
- Questioning is good.
- Dialog with disagreement is good.
- Competition is good, monopolies are bad.
- Creativity is good.
- Efficiency eliminates jobs, inefficiency creates jobs.
- When trees die, they rot and form soil for new trees (and, as such, bankruptcy can be good).
- Everybody has a motive, whether it’s fame, fortune, philanthropy, or something else.
- Some engineers (and other scientists) are often primarily interested in being correct.
- Cool software is good.
- Software is not magical.
Because I value dialog with disagreement, I enable users to post comments on this website. Because I have coded software for a living, I believe that software is not magical. Because many of my clients are software developers, I believe that competition is good but that monopolies are bad.
What are your beliefs? Your motives? And how do they shape your thinking about these issues? Let the principled dialog begin.
Related Posts
- Software Patents: Good Or Evil? (Part 1) (6/15/2003)
This week, I am speaking at the fourth annual Law and Technology Conference at the Technology Law Center of the University of Maine School of Law. I am taking a non-standard approach to this presentation. Rather than preparing PowerPoint slides (or the like), I will be posting a series of notes on my website. - Software Patents: Principled Dialog (Part 2) (6/15/2003)
Whatever your position on software patents, or on patents in general, one thing is clear. Principled arguments are more interesting than unprincipled arguments. - Software Patents: Examples Of Unprincipled Arguments (Part 3) (6/15/2003)
Many educated people are opposed to software patents, but few make principled arguments to support their positions. - Software Patents: Examples Of Principled Arguments (Part 4) (6/15/2003)
The two most fascinating principles on which software patent proponents base their arguments are that 1) open source software is better than proprietary software and 2) free software is better than open source software. - Software Patents: Copyright Law Expansion And Lessig’s Software Patent Non Sequitur (Part 5) (6/15/2003)
Lessig argues convincingly for limiting the extension of copyright terms but argues unconvincingly against software patents. - Software Patents: IETF Standards (Part 6) (6/15/2003)
For now, the IETF has not changed its policy about using patented technologies in the standards process. The tension between the IETF and the open source community will likely increase as open source software continues to grow in popularity. - Software Patents: W3C Standards (Part 7) (6/16/2003)
The open source community has generally viewed the W3C’s decision on patents in standards as a victory. - Software Patents: Final HERTS (Hypotheticals, Examples, Rants, Thoughts, And Stats) (Part 8) (6/16/2003)
Using open source software is a bit like reading Entertainment Weekly. Lots of people do it but few admit it. Plus other observations that didn’t fit anywhere else. - Software Patents Epilogue (7/16/2003)
The 2003 Law and Technology Conference at the Technology Law Center of the University of Maine School of Law was the most fun I’ve had at a conference in years.
