[trial.misc.legal.software] RFD: comp.disclose

ross@spam.ua.oz.au (Ross Williams) (05/21/91)

Call For Discussion on the Creation of comp.disclose
----------------------------------------------------
Author : Ross Williams.
Date   : 20-May-1991.

Proposed Newsgroup:

   Name        : comp.disclose
   Charter     : A place to officially disclose technical information.
   Unmoderated


Discussion:

Many  people have  become concerned  with the  problems caused  by the
increasing  scope   of  software  patents.  Following   some  landmark
decisions, the  US patent office  is now granting patents  for trivial
software techniques such as  overlapping windows and highlighted text.
As a result, programming is fast  becoming an activity jammed by legal
processes.

Amazing though it is, there are now software patents covering:

   * Scrolling with multiple subwindows.
   * Exclusive OR highlighted text.
   * Natural order spreadsheet recalculation.
   * Use of backing store to store overlapping parts of windows.

These are just the beginning. Soon, it seems, it will be impossible to
write a large computer  program without accidentally violating several
dozen patents.

One of the  reasons why this situation has arisen  is because Computer
Science has a rich  culture of ideas which are so  obvious that no one
has ever  bothered to  publish them. Indeed,  no journal  editor would
ever accept papers describing such  "obvious" ideas as exclusive OR to
highlight text  or backing  store for overlapping  windows. Similarly,
the ideas might not appear in textbooks. As a result, many obvious and
well-known ideas have become patent targets.

Some organizations,  such as the  League for Programming  Freedom, are
attempting to resolve the problem  through political channels. This is
undoubtably the best  long-term solution. However, the  creation of an
"official"   electronic  forum   for  the   disclosure  of   technical
information would provide a partial short term solution.

Once the  newsgroup was  created, programmers  around the  world could
post descriptions  of software techniques  that they have seen  or are
using. The effect would be to immediately move an enormous quantity of
previously unpublished  software ideas  into the public  domain before
the patent pirates get around to filing for them.

The newsgroup  would serve to  simplify the public  disclosure process
for ordinary users  and would provide an honourable  place to describe
techniques too obvious or urgent for publication.

I place the following points up for discussion:

    *  If such  a  newsgroup  were created,  would  a  posting to  the
    newsgroup describing a technique constitute, from a legal point of
    view, a full public disclosure?  Can any lawyers out there comment
    on this?

    * If such  a newsgroup were created, are there  any individuals or
    organizations  that  would undertake  to  archive  the group  in a
    secure manner and make it  available to those involved in lawsuits
    concerning patents? Without this, the newsgroup would be useless.

    * Is comp.disclose the best name for the group?

    * One  hidden danger  is that once  the newsgroup  is established,
    lawyers  attempting to  demonstrate  that an  idea is  non-obvious
    might argue  that the  absence of  a posting  covering an  idea is
    evidence for the  idea's non-obviousness. In this  sense, the more
    thorough the newsgroup is, the more of a danger it could be.

Further information  about the problems  with software patents  can be
obtained from:

   The League for Programming Freedom
   1 Kendall Square #143
   PO Box 9171
   Cambridge MA 02139
   Net: league@prep.ai.mit.edu
   Phone: +1 (617) 243-4091
   Document: "Against Software Patents".
   Document: "Against User Interface Copyright".

I look forward to discussion on this proposal,

Ross Williams
ross@spam.ua.oz.au