Re: [Patents] That Article

[Gregory Aharonian <srctran@world.std.com>]

>'John Collins, a partner at UK firm Marks and Clerk said: "Torvalds
>and his supporters lack a fundamental understanding of intellectual
>property rights as they seem to be unaware that copyright can only
>protect software code and not software".'

>Collins seems to be lacking a fundamental understanding that the
>software IS the code.

What Collins is probably refering to, and was probably misquoted, is
the idea/expression dichotomy, where in global copyright treaties and
many national laws, you can protection software "expression" but not
software "ideas"  (look at the TRIPS treaty for typical language).

The problem is that for software, no one knows what the heck this means.

Greg Aharonian