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#title: Titus 1967: Pros and Cons of Patenting Computer Programs

#descr: In 1967 programmers and computing companies almost uniformly resisted
the idea of software patentability, proposed to them by the US Patent
Office.  Senator Brooks expressed alarm at the PO's move to introduce
software patents through a set of guidelines and demanded that these
should be %(q:set aside until ... responsible officials at the
policy-making levels of the executive and legislative branches of
government have had an opportunity to take whatever action might be
necessary to protect the public interest).  Patent lawyers and
representatives of patent-experienced companies such as Bell
Laboratories argued in favor of the PO's move.  BEMA and IBM argued
that programs %(q:are not within the present patent statutes and are
not suitable for patent protection).  The chairman of the Association
for Computing Machinery (ACM) published a poll, according to which
most programmers opposed to the idea of software patenting and
stressed that %(q:the vital issue of computer program patents should
not be left to the deliberation of patent attorneys in government and
industry).  This is a fairly detailed account of the struggle and the
various positions at the time.  It shows how little has changed in the
35 years since then.

#Tst: Titus Article

#Zra: Zachary Statement

#UIr: US ACM on %(q:Intellectual Property) today

#Tae: This section deals only with copyright, and it sides with free speech
against the DMCA and other attempts of %(q:outlawing technology). 
Unfortunately, 35 years after Dr. Zachary's emphatic appeal, ACM and
its members still seem to turn a blind eye on the much more pervasive
%(q:outlawing of technology) and suppression of free speech which is
made possible by patents, imposed on the US computing community by a
group of %(q:patent attorneys in government and industry).

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