Copyrights and Secrets

[Ken Brown]

I just left an interesting discussion today on the Hill regarding the Microsoft settlement.  They were discussing the request of Microsoft’s Windows source code by.  The following discussion points were of interest to me: 1)  does a copyright of a software cover its underlying source code?  2) if the source code is published, is it protected from being copied if it is copyrighted? 3)  if one views codes without permission and uses it, has that person violated a copyright? 4) does copyright law correctly deal with software or should it be updated to properly deal with these issues and other open source concerns?  5)  is a trade secret different from a source code secret in the sense that the software is published and the trade secret is not?   ken brown