this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2023
1038 points (99.0% liked)

Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

54669 readers
417 users here now

⚓ Dedicated to the discussion of digital piracy, including ethical problems and legal advancements.

Rules • Full Version

1. Posts must be related to the discussion of digital piracy

2. Don't request invites, trade, sell, or self-promote

3. Don't request or link to specific pirated titles, including DMs

4. Don't submit low-quality posts, be entitled, or harass others



Loot, Pillage, & Plunder

📜 c/Piracy Wiki (Community Edition):


💰 Please help cover server costs.

Ko-Fi Liberapay
Ko-fi Liberapay

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] lemmyvore@feddit.nl 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You can patent things made with software, just not the software algorithms themselves.

Also, funny you should mention drugs...

[–] TheGalacticVoid@lemm.ee 0 points 11 months ago (2 children)

You can patent things made with software, just not the software algorithms themselves.

I understand that it's possible, but I don't understand why, legally speaking, a distinction is made. US courts don't seem to know either as they use the same argument that you gave (software is math), except they allow complicated software to be patented.

Also, funny you should mention drugs...

Crucially, the article mentions that drug patents would still be strongly enforced in the EU, Japan, and the US. It's great that India is making drugs more accessible, but I don't see how it's relevant to the differences in hardware and software for patentability.

[–] irmoz@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

I don't understand why, legally speaking, a distinction is made.

You don't understand why the law distinguishes between a piece of digital art and Photoshop itself? Come on, dude.

[–] lemmyvore@feddit.nl 2 points 11 months ago

What it means is that ultimately it's all politically and commercially motivated. If a country wants to make it possible to patent something they'll do it, even if it's nonsense (software) or cruel and exploitative (drugs).