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Appendix: Report of NCCV Working Group on Software Ownership
David H. Carey
The search for analogies (e.g., housing, renewable energy sources, public utilities) was a recurring method or strategy of our inquiry. But software doesn’t seem to fit existing categories or conventions of ownership very well. So in the spirit of John Ladd’s Capstone Address, we continued to seek what was unique or special (non-analogous) about software – relative to the goals listed above and to the question of ownership. For example, unlike many other objects of ownership claims, software can be replicated at little or no additional cost per copy, disseminated easily (e.g., over networks), and the replication is as good (perfect, exact) as the original. Such reflections led to deep and thorny philosophical questions such as, Are functional equivalents “copies”? What constitutes identity for software?
Some in the group took comfort in seeing that “nobody else has good answers either” – some participants came away with less certainty about software ownership than they started with. Similarly, some appreciated the atmosphere of intellectual challenge rather than executive pronouncements. Yet several felt a strong need to identify basic principles, rules, and foundations in order to make progress with the issues. The conference itself stimulated a renewed hope for a supportive network of individuals and institutions concerned with these questions.
4. Some Concluding Suggestions
By way of conclusion, some suggested that the balance between creator and society was already skewed too much in favor of owners (often not themselves the creators!) and that, therefore, ownership should be rolled back as a last resort for resolving conflicts over the use of software – that openness should be maximized.
Finally, a couple of more specific topics for further study were suggested: (1) Samuel Slater’s influence on the U.S. textile industry and (2) the impact of incompatible software formats (e.g., user interfaces) on infrastructure.
Whitman College
Lawrence C. Becker. Property Rights, Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1977.
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