Software engineering legal: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

In the debate around software patents some "software engineer" groups insited on recognizing software as "technical". In the meaning of patent law language, technicity is a requirement of patentability. Software patents are not commonly used in software engineering. (Well they are in some ways.)

• Copyrights
• Patents
• Intellectual property
• Trade secrets

There have been a lot of problems with legal issues of software.

• Algorithms cannot be patented.
• The traditional rules of copyright, where the owner must disclose the text for everyone to see, allows anyone to easily copy the ideas.
• Piracy is rampant.
• Liability is in flux. It is hard to make perfect software, so companies limit their liability for their products. This is at odds with more established industries, where liability is explicitly held by the perveyors.

See also

• Software engineering
• List of software engineering topics