The Creator and the Benefits of Creation: Protection of Software in the Information Revolution

Mankind is presently passing through a technological revolution unlike anything seen in any prior era. In a world where the total mass of man's knowledge doubles in less than two years' information has become an increasingly valuable commodity. Similarly, the means by which information is manipulated has become evermore important. The development of the computer 2 has been the catalyst of this information revolution as it has freed man from many time consuming and monotonous tasks. The development of the computer industry has been phenomenal. 3 It has gone from its infancy in the late 1940's to a stage where annual sales figures read in the hundred billion dollar range. The growth of this industry has been marked 4 by a seemingly continuous series of lawsuits. In fact, the first computer law suit was between the rival claimants to the honour (and Patent rights) of being the first inventor of the computer.