🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <103@urban.UUCP>, jlr@urban.UUCP (John Lynn Roseman) writes:
|>
|>The following quote is from an official with the Soviet 
|>patent agency:
|>
|>   There is no copyright protection for computer software 
|>   in the USSR.  Now the rules of protecting software in our
|>   country are under discussion and preparation.  The protection 
|>   is available now by confidentiality of the contract.
|>        I. Zhuravljova, v/o Sojuspatent  6/15/90
|>
|>This seems to imply that all packaged software is in the public 
|>domain in the USSR.  So a company could theoretically be set up 
|>there with a disk duplicator and shrink wrapped copy of UNIX sVr4, 
|>and sell unlicensed copies at a very low price.
|>
|>One issue is whether this would violate any American laws.
|>For a company with no ties to AT&T, it seems not to.

I do not see anything in the quoted statement that implies that software
of any form is considered public domain. Read the last sentence
carefully - allowing for the slightly garbled English, it says that the
only current protection of software is the contract between the supplier
and purchaser. Where do you exspect to buy a copy of UNIX sVr4 (or any
other commerical product) that does not have a provision in the purchase
agreement that prohibits you from making copies exspect for backup
purposes? If you purchase it in the USSR, making and distributing copies
is a violation of Soviet law. If you purchase it outside the USSR, you
are still bound by the laws of the country of purchase, albeit it will
be much harder to enforce judgement. Of course, if you try to sell any
copies in the country where the contract was made (and very likely in
many others as well), enforcement is going to be much easier. 
                                
Richard Neitzel thor@thor.atd.ucar.edu	     	Torren med sitt skjegg
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