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Microsoft cares, and the Business Software Alliance cares, because one potential impact of the ruling would be that the license agreements which come with basic
by ubernostrum 14y ago
Microsoft cares, and the Business Software Alliance cares, because one potential impact of the ruling would be that the license agreements which come with basically all proprietary software would be rendered null with respect to their restrictions on copying (the argument that IP protection is exhausted at sale of a seed can easily extend to the idea that it expires at sale of a piece of software).
See SCOTUSblog for more:
http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/02/argument-preview-stakes-are-high-in-dispute-over-rights-to-genetically-modified-seeds/ http://www.scotusblog.com/2013/02/argument-preview-stakes-ar...
- tellarin 14y agoBut the intended use of a piece of software is not to replicate itself (unless it is a virus). While the intended use of any seed is obviously to grow and reproduce. Hope the distinction is clear enough for the court. And this is a patent case, not a copyright one. On the other hand, I do think that copyright law needs to be revised in the case of digital goods that can be trivially copied/duplicated.