Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 8/1/84; site scc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!houxm!houxz!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!hplabs!pesnta!scc!steiny 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 ihnp4!pesnta -\ fortune!idsvax -> scc!steiny ucbvax!twg -/