n8445388@unicorn.WWU.EDU (Treon Verdery) (08/09/90)
fhapgood@world.std.com (Fred Hapgood) writes: >A number of observers of the programming scene are of the opinion >that the upcoming flood of software patents, taken together with >the recent expansion by the courts of ownership rights in user >interface copyrights, will cripple the development of the >software industry in this country (and therefore the industry >itself). I may have thought of a partial solution to this problem, although I have no doubt others have thought of this idea as well. If this is the first mention of this idea anywhere I formally declare it to be in the public domain. It is my understanding that exceptionally simple computer operations like clearing the screen, or updating a variable within a loop have been "protected", and that they have been protected by describing their exact process with a flow diagram. if one were to define these actions as objects, (as in object oriented programming) and then train a neural net to approximate these objects, could one assemble a program out of these neural approximations and avoid specific violation of a software patent? "Yes, it updates cells in a spreadsheet. No, I don't know specifically how it does it." Also: 1) loading the neural net with something personal (say a representation of your name) on start up could make sure each group of weights within the neural net was unique to the user, hopefully _placing the responsibility for patent violation with the USER, not the software developer_, because the specific mechanism of the process would be user controlled. I would hope that this would be analogous to to an individual CHOOSING to put a cassette tape in a box, CHOOSING a radio station, and finally CHOOSING whether they were recording the Rolling Stones (tm) or the sounds of C-span (no tm). I can imagine the whole thing being icon driven and taking 5 minutes the first time you use the software. 2) there are obvious disadvantages if a program executes neural net modules. I suggest that a third party write a decompiler for the neural modules that the user could CHOOSE to install with the click of an icon. this need only be done once, and of course it would be up to the user as to whether it was automatically executed on startup. This process seems cumbersome, but perhaps it will suggest a more streamlined alternative. I am not a "real programmer", so I need instruction rather than flammage as to why this kind of thing wouldn't work. I'm not a "real lawyer" either, and so I'm interested in learning the real legal basis for defeating the software copyright problem. followups to comp.society.futures...feel free to distribute this article in any way you like. -Treon treon@milton.u.washington.edu OR n8445388@unicorn.wwu.edu -one final note: I am interested in pursuing a master's in technology transfer. If you have any advice, or can recommend any programs please contact me.