Ethical Issues in Software Patent Law: A Comparison Between the US and UK :: Argumentative Persuasive Papers

Ethical Issues in bundle package Patent Law As Seen in Comparison Between the US and UK1. IntroductionThough it is often overlooked today in upgrade of its counterpart digital music protection, softw atomic number 18 content protection is an highly serious issue, and many contend that it has the potential to stunt the growth of engine room if it is mishandled. The debate concerns packet piracy (often simply using a classme you didnt actually pay for), and the proper ratified protection that should control to such software programs. Due to space constraints, I intend to bound our discussion here to an overview of the software patent and copyright issues in the linked States and the UK two of the worlds most advanced countries with widespread software development and use, and therefore great potential for misuse. And as no intervention of this issue can be complete without a look at its ethical ramifications, I will finally propose a final result to the software protecti on problem, and justify it with ethical as well as pragmatic motivations.2. Systems TodayThere are two primary legal mover of protecting ones software today copyrights and patents (trade secrets are really a separate category, simply involving keeping your code secret, and support no real legal protection). The difference between copyrights and patents is that copyrights (traditionally applicable to printed study and documents) apply automatically exactly contain limited protection, while patents (applied to peculiar crease processes, etc.) give extensive legal protection but essential be granted. Copyrights have long been the only accepted method of protection of software, which was viewed as more like a printed document than a business process the thinking of many was (and still is) that, Patents cover unique processes and functions, but since virtually all software is derivative, patent protection seems inappropriate for software programs. Copyright protection may be more suitable since it does check between ideas and their expression. However, the extent and scope of that protection is unclear1What this means is that copyrights can be got around (at least theoretically, rewriting a program in a different way to do exactly the comparable thing would not violate a copyright on the master copy program) and while patents are much more restrictive, it is unclear when exactly a patent on a piece of software is justified, resulting in an prospect for abuse by patent applicants. To get a more substantial picture of the state of software protection today, we will take a closer look at relevant law in the fall in States, and compare it to the protection currently offered in the UK.