Just want to point out that protecting one's intellectual property can be legally done in two very distinct ways: patent and copyright. The two are quite different.
Copyright protects the actual work. This applies to software, movies, books, etc. This applies even if the work is a revisdion of someone else's idea. Just think of all the romance novels that are essentially "Romeo and Juliet" stories. They can be copyrightede. Patent gives proprietary rights to the IDEA, not just the acvtual work. Thus, if somehow "Romeo and Juliet" plots could be patented, no one could write a novel with the same general plot, and the literary world would be impoverished (well, ok, the pulp fiction literary world at least). Software copyrights are fine. Software patents, however, are restrict creativity and innovation. Software patents have no place in society. God bless! -- Mankind will in time discover that unbridled majorities are as tyrannical and cruel as unlimited despots -- Petition Against Software Patents -- http://www.petitiononline.com/openm01 --[Manny [EMAIL PROTECTED] Member: Philippine League for Democratic Telecommunications "Affordable Access for All" --[Open Minds Philippines]--------------------[openminds.linux.org.ph]-- -- Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Official Website: http://plug.linux.org.ph Searchable Archives: http://marc.free.net.ph . To leave, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/plug . Are you a Linux newbie? To join the newbie list, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/ph-linux-newbie
