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Article #73014

Re: Copyleft & royalties for authors

#73014
From: Scott E. Preece
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1991 23:18
25 lines
2118 bytes
In article <NELSON.91Nov12233938@cheetah.clarkson.edu> nelson@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Russ Nelson) writes:

|      but much of the discussion claiming that software is significantly
|      different from other areas of invention is not very convincing.
|
|   Try this: Software is the only means of production for which the
|   incremental cost of production is nearly free.
---
I don't think I understand this argument at all.  What has the cost of
production to do with the patentability of something?  Are you saying
only expensive things should be patentable?

In any case, this doesn't make software unique.  You can patent, for
instance, hybrid plants, which cost nothing whatever to produce.  For
many drugs and other chemicals the cost of production is negligible on
the same scale as software; the profitability or non-profitability is
wholly based on incidental costs, like research, development, and
marketing.  Just like software.

scott
--
scott preece
motorola/mcg urbana design center	1101 e. university, urbana, il   61801
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References: <1991Nov3.233743.29063@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca> <PREECE.91Nov6094424@neptune.urbana.mcd.mot.com> <1991Nov7.152026.13220@cs.umn.edu> <PREECE.91Nov9020722@neptune.urbana.mcd.mot.com> <NELSON.91Nov12233938@cheetah.clarkson.edu>

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Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!gmdzi!unido!mcsun!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!mcdphx!udc!preece
From: preece@urbana.mcd.mot.com (Scott E. Preece)
Newsgroups: gnu.misc.discuss
Subject: Re: Copyleft & royalties for authors
Message-ID: <PREECE.91Nov14171837@neptune.urbana.mcd.mot.com>
Date: 14 Nov 91 23:18:40 GMT
References: <1991Nov3.233743.29063@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
 <PREECE.91Nov6094424@neptune.urbana.mcd.mot.com>
 <1991Nov7.152026.13220@cs.umn.edu>
 <PREECE.91Nov9020722@neptune.urbana.mcd.mot.com>
 <NELSON.91Nov12233938@cheetah.clarkson.edu>
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