Patently Absurd: The Ethical Implications of Software Patents

Since the mid-1980s, the percentage of the population in the United States owning a personal computer has grown from just over 8% to well over 50%, and nearly 60% of the population uses a computer at work. At the end of 2004, there were over 820 million personal computers in active use worldwide, and projections indicate that the number will surpass one billion by 2007. What was traditionally a data processing tool has increasingly become a hub of multimedia entertainment, commerce and communication. The catalyst for this continuing evolution is software, which is the interpreter that speaks to the computer on the user's behalf, and also returns visual and textual messages on behalf of the hardware. Quality software is essential, and the continued innovation of software is vital for nearly every industry and personal endeavor that has come to rely upon personal computers. Alarmingly, abuses of intellectual property laws have put software innovation in jeopardy. In the United States, the phenomenon of "software patents" has caused an increasing shift in the software industry away from an environment of rapid advances and creativity, toward a minefield of litigation, anti-competitive behavior and questionable ethics. The topic of software patents touches on a wide range of subjects including law, information and communication technology, economics, computer science and personal and professional ethics. Although the focus of this paper is the ethical issues raised by software patents, a brief background on the topics of software development, intellectual property and ethical frameworks will be presented to provide a context for the argument.