COMPUTER SOFTWARE AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

(Summary: This paper discusses, how intellectual property rights operate in the field of computer software.
It was read by Justice Yatindra Singh Judge Allahabad High Court on 15th March 2008 at National Conference on Advancements in Information Communication Technology Allahabad)

Justice Michael Kirby picture from Wikipedia

Justice Michael Kirby is a puisne judge in the High Court of Australia, the highest court there. On 21st February 2008, Justice Kirby was the chief guest in the annual dinner meeting of Internet Industry Association Sydney, Australia. The audience here, reminds me of his speech on that occassion,

'The people who built the Internet ... have ... extra dimension. I asked tonight when I came in here and saw you all: why is this such a male dominated audience? Why are there so few women?
If I were to go to a Law function tonight, about half the audience would be women – and the same in most professions. But here, this is overwhelmingly a male domain.
My conversationalist said, it all goes back to the fact that to be good in this type of technology, you have got to have that very strange mental quirk. And that’s a male phenomenon. It’s on the Y chromosome, in the male genes. That’s probably why they are mostly men here.
I don’t know that I accept that.
It may be a power thing. You may be just a little bit behind the rest of us in society. But it’s a thing for you to look to. Women are the great networkers. And toilers in the Internet are in the business of the greatest network of them all.'

Even I don't accept the explaination offered by the conversationalist however, it is not only a thing to look to but a thing to be look into. With this preliminary, Let's come to today's topic.