Assignment 8
Assignment 8
Links to my groupmates' discussion questions.
4.47 Debate whether software should be copyrightable or should be freely available for copying?
Qian and Johannes are my teammates, we got different opinions on this debate. Qian and Johannes believe that software should be copyrightable, but I think it should be freely using.
Qian: If they can use it and copy it for free, they may don't need to create new software, so it's not good for the development of software, so that it would effect the quality.
Johannes: "They need to pay, how much they pay, how good software they gain." Also, if people know the price, obviously they know which one is probably better, and they can decide which one they want and how much they are willing to pay.
Me: I think software should be freely available for copying, for three reasons. First, Software patents useless as an information source is limited. Most of the software would not be known and used, because people won't spend money on a software which they've never heard. Second, Patent examination is too slow, as I know from the newspaper, the average time taken to grant a patent was 3 and a half to 4 years. That's a really big problem because during that time lots of patent issues will appear. Third, because of the internet laws and international piracy, it's a big challenge to protect the copyright. We do not have a unified law in the world so far.
In conclusion, we all agree with each others opinion, and I think it's true that there are both advantages and disadvantages. Also, we think that Maybe it's a good way if we let the government purchase the software, and citizens pay the government once a year, then they have right to use any sort of software and do not need to pay others fees.