Mike commented the other day about software patents:

Reverse-engineering a refrigerator -- a mechanical device -- is a little bit different from reverse-engineering a video game, a work of artistry. Video games, and even more utilitarian computer programs, are more akin to music, movies, and books, methinks -- three media in which the institution of the copyright is rarely challenged, except the continuing (and necessary) squabbles over what constitutes "fair use."

Consider: the manufacture of a refrigerator requires a capital expense for equipment, raw materials, and perhaps even a skilled workforce. Not to mention a tangible, bricks-and-mortar distribution network. Even if I were to reverse-engineer the latest Frigidaire, I'd be in no position to compete for floor shelf at the local Sears.

Pirating computer programs, on the other hand, takes only patience, caffeine, a certain knowledge of computer language, and (for distribution) an Internet connection -- a much lower barrier of entry. A computer program is not a tangible thing that is manufactured; it's a collection of bits. It's information.

I would disagree in the case of video games and computer programs. I would think that they fall under the guise of a patent rather than a copyright. Consider that writing a piece of software takes a capital expense for equipment (the machinery on which the software is written and tested), and a skilled workforce. Software also has a tangible distribution network. The only difference between a refrigerator and a computer program is that I have the resources to make a computer program that is as good as anything Microsoft can come up with. A refrigerator requires more machinery than I probably possess (although if I were a talented engineer, I could probably come up with something resembling a refrigerator), but all I need to make a computer program is myself and some software.

Consider that I am allowed to take my refrigerator apart, but I am not allowed to take my copy of Windows XP apart. Software, I feel, should be subject to the same patent laws as a refrigerator. Windows XP is no more a work of art than the computer upon which it is "written."