Thinking by analogy is limited. An algorithm is no more a house than the Internet is a "series of tubes". If Juan and I each claim the house then our furniture

Thinking by analogy is limited. An algorithm is no more a house than the Internet is a "series of tubes". If Juan and I each claim the house then our furniture and our bodies would be in each other's way if we used it at the same time. If you use my algorithm (add each value in order and check against a checksum provided from another account) to balance your check book, it won't keep me from balancing mine. Comparisons to the industrial revolution and medical devices are likewise bogus analogies because it takes time and resources to turn designs into physical products. I can use my algorithm and profit from it as soon as I've worked it out. And, as RMS would point out, we write software to do things. Make money off doing the thing, not trying to sell an idea. Software patents are relatively new in the world. So far, they have only led to damage.