🚀 go-pugleaf

"A High Court judge has found that program-to-program interfaces (or
 'filters') are not covered under the laws of copyright after Daman, a
 publisher of specialist construction industry software, tried to prevent
 rival Total Information Processing Systems (Tips) from building in an
 interface to its competing product.

"Reith Banes, Daman managing director, said that the decision could lead to
 an open season for companies to write software that accessed more
 sophisticated packages and used key routines of those packages as a result.
 [ Blatant scare-mongering. - m ]  Unlike the case with most shrink-wrapped
 applications where interface routines are widely available, software houses
 should be able to protect their investment in packages if they wish, Baines
 argued.

"Baines said that Tips had quoted recently accepted EC guidelines which allow
 reverse-engineering to take place where necessary to ensure compatibility
 between products.  The case again throws doubt upon the ability of
 legislators to cater for the complexities of copyright issues in the computer
 industry."

                 --- PC Week, 1991-07-09.  Reproduced without permission.


mathew