Mathieu Bouchard wrote:
On Tue, 8 Aug 2006, David Powers wrote:
What is the legal status of a program that mimics another programs functions, but does not copy any of the actual source code or guts?
Morally, I consider that this is a god-given right.
Traditionally it has pretty much been a right (think about what the USA Constitution says about intellectual property). However this system has drifted over the years: I think I remember laws forbidding "reverse engineering", but also, the DMCA is the biggest example. OTOH there are rulings that specifically say that interfaces can't be copyrighted or otherwise encumbered, and I would believe that this extends to imitation of a complete program. (There were also some rulings on similar topics in opposite direction... this may depend on who the judge happened to be each time)
What about patents? Think of M$'s patent on double-click http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/02/1086058889577.html or adobe's patent on tabs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tab_(GUI)
br, Piotr