I think the real problem is how the patent systems works today. Once meant to protect scientific investments, it does to often protects simple ideas many people would come (came) up with in no much time when confronted with a given problem.
Additionally there is the problem, that software related technology has become so complex and fast changing, that
it is hard for a patent agency to know what a patent actually covers and if it should not be issued due to priority art.
E.g. modern smartphones are just a specific case of a (kinda) general purpose computer and a cloud is just a computation cluster. Nevertheless you can get patents for "the cloud" you wouldn't get for a computation cluster.
Btw. I like comparing software patents with patents on concepts and story lines of novels, both can be argued for but both are a very bad idea ;-)
Trade secrets protected in guild systems. These where out of the control of the government. Indeed, these guilds could be more powerful than the government. The Monarchy could offer a government backed monopoly in exchange for those secrets. Not sure if it is the best idea or not. Personally, I wouldn't mind stronger programming guilds.
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A bit biased Artikle, but
I think the real problem is how the patent systems works today. Once meant to protect scientific investments, it does to often protects simple ideas many people would come (came) up with in no much time when confronted with a given problem.
Additionally there is the problem, that software related technology has become so complex and fast changing, that it is hard for a patent agency to know what a patent actually covers and if it should not be issued due to priority art.
E.g. modern smartphones are just a specific case of a (kinda) general purpose computer and a cloud is just a computation cluster. Nevertheless you can get patents for "the cloud" you wouldn't get for a computation cluster.
Btw. I like comparing software patents with patents on concepts and story lines of novels, both can be argued for but both are a very bad idea ;-)
Patents were never meant to protect investments.
Trade secrets protected in guild systems. These where out of the control of the government. Indeed, these guilds could be more powerful than the government. The Monarchy could offer a government backed monopoly in exchange for those secrets. Not sure if it is the best idea or not. Personally, I wouldn't mind stronger programming guilds.