Xref: utzoo misc.legal:17147 comp.misc:8708 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!mephisto!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cica!iuvax!mailrus!uunet!snorkelwacker!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!lavaca.uh.edu!uhnix1!sugar!ficc!peter From: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) Newsgroups: misc.legal,comp.misc Subject: Re: Europe's attempt to copyright interfaces is insane Message-ID: Date: 12 Apr 90 17:29:41 GMT References: <1093@goofy.UUCP> <2148@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> Reply-To: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) Distribution: usa Organization: Xenix Support, FICC Lines: 18 In article <2148@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU> edit@media-lab.media.mit.edu (Film/Video) writes: > brnstnd@stealth.acf.nyu.edu (Dan Bernstein) writes: > "For thousands of years ideas have been free." > That may be so, but for hundreds of years inventions have been > ---------- > patentable. > ---------- Yes, but patent (and copyright) law is a balancing act between encouraging new inventions and stifling development of these inventions. Making the program interfaces of a system copyrightable swings the balance way over the wrong way. That's like copyrighting the power plug! All that does is encourage people to build new and incompatible systems for no reason other than to satisfy the lawyers and beancounters. This is (a) a direct waste of resources, and (b) an unnecessary fragmentation of the demand side of the market, which again wastes resources. -- _--_|\ `-_-' Peter da Silva. +1 713 274 5180. . / \ 'U` \_.--._/ v