This document discusses software as property and whether copying proprietary software is wrong. It outlines the history of intellectual property rights, including John Locke's labor theory of property which argues people have a right to what they produce. While software challenges traditional notions of property, most countries consider copying proprietary software without a license to be illegal, though fair use exceptions exist for purposes like criticism, teaching, and research. The act of copying alone may not be wrong philosophically, but using the copied software deprives authors of payment for their labor.

1. Software as Property
Dr. Varun Kumar
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2. Outlines
1 Introduction
2 History
3 Is it wrong to copy proprietary software?
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3. Introduction
Software is a set of instructions, data or programs used to operate
computers and execute specific tasks.
⇒ Software has challenged the traditional notion of property and
ownership. There have been two theories:
(A) Consequentialist: It suggests an action is good or bad depending on
its outcome.
(B) Kantian: Everyone has the right to be autonomous.
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4. Continued–
⇒ This idea is derived from Lockes Labour theory.
A person has natural right to what he/she produces.
This can be applied to software as well.
Example:
⇒ Recall the Bingo case.
⇒ PPOS copied BOS and as such they stole Bingos labour.
⇒ Bingo has lost the capacity to sell (and make money from) its creation.
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5. History
⇒ John Locke, who argued that if one mixed one’s labor with something
then one had legitimate claim to it.
There should be some restrictions on the right to appropriation.
⇒ Argument → ”Enough and as good left for others”.
Weakness → It is not obvious why we should gain what we mix our
labor with, rather than simply losing our labor.
Example: If I poured a can of tomato juice, which I owned, into the
sea, clearly I would not thereby own the sea.
⇒ Some people reject this idea because the level of knowledge that was
considered is generic and common.
⇒ The absence of ownership might also cause bad consequences.
⇒ Claim has been made that lack of ownership will lead to lack of
incentive to produce software.
⇒ Software writers are not always in it for the money consider freeware
and shareware.
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6. Is it wrong to copy proprietary software?
⇒ In general the answer is yes.
⇒ Copying might be allowed in the license in certain including fair use
and back-up purposes.
⇒ In some countries, fair use of the copyrighted material is allowed for
the following purposes:
Criticisms or comments
News reporting
Teaching
Scholarship or research
Some governmental purposes such as
⇒ Parliamentary
⇒ Judiciary proceedings and commissions
⇒ Statutory inquiries.
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7. Continued–
⇒ Fair use of proprietary software is not considered wrong or illegal.
⇒ Most countries
⇒ Making a copy to prevent serious harm might also not attract legal
consequence in many jurisdictions.
⇒ The act of copying software in itself is not wrong because there is
nothing intrinsically wrong with the act. → Philosophical argument
⇒ Its the act of using the copied software that is the problem.
⇒ While the person who has been licensed for the software may not
have been harmed
Copying does not deprive the person of the procession.
The authors are deprived of payment for their labor
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