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From: steiny@scc.UUCP (Don Steiny)
Newsgroups: net.legal
Subject: Re: Protection of ideas?
Message-ID: <117@scc.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 19-Aug-84 14:50:21 EDT
Article-I.D.: scc.117
Posted: Sun Aug 19 14:50:21 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 22-Aug-84 00:52:16 EDT
References: <482@ames.UUCP>
Organization: Santa Cruz Computer, Aptos, Calif.
Lines: 28

****

	I phoned our company lawyer to make sure, but 492@.ames is correct,
the law does not protect ideas.   Trying to copyright an idea 
is an especially bad idea.   Say you write a useful program in
Pascal or F77.  It is easy to translate that program into C.
If someone translates your program to C and sells it, tough luck on
you.  Anything that is copyrighted must also be published and so
anyone can see it.  

	Though there is no "one best way" to protect
software, generally "trade secret" is the best way.  People
cannot steal something if they do not know how it works.  

	One of the reasons that many companies have silly security
precautions that people only obey when it is convenient is so that
if any of their software is ripped off the company lawyers will
be able to support the assertion that the company took reasonable
precautions to protect the trade secret.

Don Steiny
Personetics
109 Torrey Pine Terr.
Santa Cruz, Calif. 95060
(408) 425-0382
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