"I guess that probably
means I can help you drift gently into a blissful,
relaxing sleep. And some of you might need that. I
guess I shouldn't object if you do. If you need to
sleep, by all means do."
The speech ends with a brief discussion of software
patents, a growing issue of concern both within the
software industry and within the free software
community. Like Napster, software patents reflect the
awkward nature of applying laws and concepts written
for the physical world to the frictionless universe of
information technology. The difference between
protecting a program under copyright and protecting a
program under software patents is subtle but
significant. In the case of copyright, a software
creator can restrict duplication of the source code but
not duplication of the idea or functionality that the
source code addresses. In other words, if a developer
chooses not to use a software program under the
original developer's terms, that second developer is
still free to reverse-engineer the program-i.
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