R
Robert Lunnon
Walt Boyes [mailto:[email protected]] wrote: > I make my living now mostly from what I know and what I write. While > any kid can knock together software, can any kid properly debug it, > understand the applications it was supposed to perform, Some can, some can't.. > and have the liability insurance to back it up when you use it? In the US probably not, elsewhere maybe > It takes on average, more than an hour per line of code to write, test > and debug a software product for a finished product. Dunno about that, I have codes that required significantly less maintenance than that > If you don't give the developer some means of "gxtracting $$$" so he > or she or they can eat, who will develop software? People who like to develop software ... Anyway, Patents simply give an exclusive right to the inventor in order to give that inventor a head start in developing his/her "invention". At the end of the exclusivity period the invention must enter the public domain for "the common good'. This process has been perverted by software companies to exclude the competition from a marketplace rather than provide for the "common good". The long period of exclusivity reflects the difficulty of producing material goods which doesn't really exist in IT. Stamping a few CD's is trivial compared to setting up a full manufacturing plant. Not only that, quite a bit of software is being distributed with claims of copyright and patent protection. The requirement that the algorithm enter the public domain at the end of the exclusivity period should terminate any copyright protection, with a requirement that the software algorithm be disclosed in full.... You cant have the cake and eat it too guys ! > Not I. I will dig ditches, or wash cars. > > The idea that intellectual labor isn't hard to do, or should > not be rewarded is silly. > > Why, it is the same argument that says that since you as an engineer > don't need to get paid for what you know, I should hire you and pay > you what you'd get at McDonalds. This argument is wrong. Market dynamics mean that you get paid for your labour on the basis of 1. Demand : How wanted is your particular skill 2. Availability: How common is your skill 3. Return: How much money do I make from using your skill Period... The guy at MacDonalds makes less because he returns less and his skill is rather common. > Shouldn't you be entitled to the fruits of your labor, at whatever the > traffic will bear? Yes, but competition is healthy. Coca-Cola holds no patents to my knowledge over the formula for its beverage yet makes zillions each year from selling it