Download Session 34

Ethics of Computing
MONT 113G, Spring 2012
Session 34
Intellectual Property II
1
Trade Secrecy
Trade secrecy laws give companies the right to keep certain
information secret.
Examples: Food recipes, Chemicals used in processes, Google search
algorithms.
What properties must information have to be protected by trade
secrecy?
• have novelty.
• represent an economic investment.
• have involved some effort in development.
• company must have made an effort to keep it secret.
Example: Nondisclosure agreements; software licenses
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Problems with Trade Secrecy
Problems with trade secrecy:
What are some problems with trade secrecy laws with respect to
software?
The laws are not uniform.
The laws were not designed for IT, so the outcome is uncertain.
It is hard to maintain secrecy for software:
• A person working with software may be able to grasp the
principle and reproduce it.
• The company may have to show clients the source code to
customize the software for the client's needs.
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Patent Protection
•
A patent gives the holder the right to prevent others from making,
using, or selling an invention.
•
The protection holds even if another person invents it independently.
•
Abstract ideas, mathematical formulas, scientific principles, laws of
nature and mental processes cannot be patented.
•
Is software a mental process?
•
Should one be able to patent an algorithm?
Problems:
Patents are meant to foster inventions.
Patents on software may inhibit inventions.
How?
(E.g. new software must have a patent search before marketing).
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Free Software
Free Software, as envisioned by Richard Stallman:
Users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and
improve on software.
The Free Software License says that if the code is incorporated into
a new program, that program must also have a Free Software
License. ("Copyleft")
Four freedoms for Free Software:
1. Freedom to run the program for any purpose.
2. Freedom to study how the program works and adapt it.
3. Freedom to redistribute copies (to help your neighbor).
4. Freedom to improve the program and release the improved
version to the public.
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Free and Open Source Software
(FOSS)
Open Source Software does not include the same restrictions as FS.
FOSS may be distributed with a cost.
Example: Red Hat Linux
The right to view and change the source code is what's
important.
Software developers make money selling and customizing the
code.
Proprietary Software (PS) developers feel FOSS is a threat to PS.
(Why?)
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Philosophical Basis of Property
1. Property is created by laws.
•
What can be owned.
•
How things can be acquired and transferred.
•
What owners can do with their property
2. Theories of Property:
•
Utilitarian
Laws to foster creativity and innovation.
•
Natural Right to Property
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Natural Right to Property
Argument for natural right: Individuals have a natural right to
what they produce with their labor (John Locke).
Example: Garden
Software developers produce software through their labor, so
they own it.
Flaws:
1. Adding labor to something you don't own does not make it
yours.
2. Software is not tangible. When copied, owner does not lose
the product of his or her labor.
3. Software developers want to control software for economic
gain.
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Economic Models of Software
distribution
Proprietary software (PS):
Developers want to have intellectual property rights so that
they can sell the software.
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS):
Make money from supporting the software. (How?)
Which is best?
Which system produces the best and most useful software?
Which system leads to most widely accessible software?
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Natural Rights Argument
Against Software Ownership
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Software is essentially a series of mental steps.
•
Ownership of mental steps could lead to interference with freedom
of thought.
•
This is more likely as more sophisticated Artificial Intelligence
(AI) and expert systems are developed.
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