Re: Abandoning property (Was: Copyright Extension Bill Passes Congress)

From: Dan L Burk <BURKDANL[_at_]shu.edu>
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1998 21:03:20 -0500

On 11/12/98, Mike Bradley <mike[_at_]sphinx.com> wrote:
>
> On Wed, 11 Nov 1998, Dan L. Burk <burkdanl[_at_]shu.edu> wrote:
> >
> > Perhaps I am misunderstanding this comment -- if it actually means
> > what it says, it appears to reflect an extremely niave view of how
> > technological advances occur, especially in computer science. The
> > programs almost certainly lose their value in a few *months* rather
> > than a few years, but are nonetheless sequestered for another 69
> > years, during which developers could otherwise be learning from
> > them, improving them, etc. In other words, it almost certainly
> > harms further development.
>
> I don't know your experience in the computer industry, but mine tells
> me that while 70 years may be a long time to expect source code to
> be useful, 10 years certainly isn't, nor in some cases is 30 or 40.

Please re-read my post, and note that I did *not* say the code loses its usefulness. The fact that it remains useful nicely underscores my point.

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Dan L. Burk
Seton Hall University
burkdanl[_at_]shu.edu

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Received on Thu Nov 19 1998 - 02:14:21 GMT