From phm@a2e.de  Sun Apr 29 23:17:52 2001
From: phm@a2e.de (PILCH Hartmut)
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2001 00:17:52 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: [Patents] Re: difficulty vs technicity
In-Reply-To: <20010429234014.A28006@jl1.quim.ucm.es>
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.33.0104292354240.8063-100000@mulix.oas.a2e.de>

> Suppose that the patent system actually worked well, that is, patents
> were granted only on reasonable relevant inventions. Would you agree
> with software patents?

To achieve that, the rules would have to be different than in the current
patent system.  You could no longer call that "patents".  And it is
impossible within the current framework of law to reform the whole patent
system to conform to those rules.  The question can therefore only be

  "Could you imagine an acceptable law that would allow the authors of
  MP3, RSA and other difficult-to-find software concepts to exclude
  competitors more effectively than is possible with current copyright?"

And I'd say "Yes, of course".  There are many fair ways to design such
laws.

As far as my sense of justice is concerned, I don't think that it is
desirable to have a system for rewarding those who do difficult work. The
reward however does not necessarily have to consist in an exclusion right
(i.e. "property").

Exclusion is only one way of rewarding authors.  Its advantage is that it
works well together with market economics.  But it doesn't work all that
well together with information economics. Some recent studies actually
found that it has meanwhile become an inferior way compared to direct
rewarding systems.  Like the authors of those studies, I might plead for a
combination of exclusion and rewarding, offering the author a choice.

Much more imagination is needed if we want a good future.  The patent
system also needs to be continued and developped in the realm where its
harm and merit are close to being balanced.  I don't think throwing away
any possibility is a good idea.  That's why I'd be very much in favor of a
system that develops a new possibility, such as direct rewarding.

-phm




