5. Patents; File-Sharing Debate

Simson Garfinkel, Patently Absurd

  1. How did it come to be that software patents are so freely issued, when "mental processes" or "algorithms" were traditionally thought unpatentable? [Tim Bartlam]

 

 

 

  1. What are "bad patents"? What are some examples given in the article? Why do they get issued? [Eric Beach]

 

 

 

  1. What was the Comton's patent claim? How was it invalidated? [Nathan Beach]

 

 

 

  1. The article says that the real problem may not be the invalid patents, but the valid ones. Why? How are patents used to exclude small companies from the market? [KC Campbell]

 

 

 

  1. Describe how you think "inventions" should be protected in an ideal society.  What would the rationale for protection be? How would that rationale best be met? [Joel Baker]

 

 

File-Sharing Debate

Add a point to your participate score: perhaps to make up for a missed day or question. Winning side to be determined by class vote.

 

Thesis:  Private, non-commercial, low-quantity copying of copyrighted music or movie files without permission is ethical and should be legal.

 

You will have two minutes to make your case.

 

Pro:

 

Con:

 

Pro response:

 

Con response: