Your magnum opus gets obsoleted every other year by the latest video card technology. Unlike video games, a work of music or literature can be created by one or a few dedicated artists, and stays timeless. In contrast, a sophisticated video game requires large teams of people and a large budget, and seems really lame 10 years later.
An artist can work as a waiter during the day and write his great novel at night. When he is done with the novel, after a few years, he can take a couple more years to be recognized and get published.
Now, suppose I worked in IT support during the day and worked on my great computer program at night. Even if I were able to finish anything worthwhile in a year on my home PC (fat chance!), it would be obsolete before I could get anybody to buy it.
I disagree with the essay. The strength of the U.S. common law system, as other posters have noted, is the latitude of a judge to adjust the law to fit unexpected facts and circumstances (and no two cases are ever the same). Justice is a human endeavor, and justice requires a human in the loop. When interpreting law, there is a trade-off between rigid consistency and less-clear adaptability. Our forefathers wisely designed an adaptable system.
Incidentally, I read thousands of cases in law school, and I often marveled how our political system is so well tuned. We react to long term social problems after great deal of debate. We respond to immediate threats quite quickly.
Since the poster attempted to apply software engineering to the legal system, please allow me to indulge. I will attempt to describe the political process in terms of frequency response...
The will of the populace is the input force to the political system.
This input force comprises two components, we the people, and we the lobbyists.
The Executive Branch has a very high frequency response.
The legislature has a medium frequency response.
The supreme court lags behind with a low frequency response and a 180 degree phase shift.
Your company owns the copyright.
1) You might convince them to assign the copyright to you (fat chance). In that case, you need a signed document. Just do an internet search for a standard copyright assignment form. You need somebody with authority in the company to sign-off on the copyright.
2) You might convince your company to release the software under the GPL. At that point, it becomes GPL licensed to the world, which includes you. Try to sell this as a benefit to your company.
3) You could do a clean-room rewrite of the code. Basically, rewrite the product from scratch using your superior knowledge.
4) Carefully examine your contract for a loophole. If you are a contractor, and not an employee, then research the work for hire doctrine. You might actually own the program. Otherwise, if you are regular employee, there is not much you can do.
My advice, don't just post it to source-forge. Even if you acted as though you owned the program, the company still owns the rights and could enforce them 10 years down the road.
IAAL
Slashdot Mirror
Your magnum opus gets obsoleted every other year by the latest video card technology. Unlike video games, a work of music or literature can be created by one or a few dedicated artists, and stays timeless. In contrast, a sophisticated video game requires large teams of people and a large budget, and seems really lame 10 years later.
An artist can work as a waiter during the day and write his great novel at night. When he is done with the novel, after a few years, he can take a couple more years to be recognized and get published.
Now, suppose I worked in IT support during the day and worked on my great computer program at night. Even if I were able to finish anything worthwhile in a year on my home PC (fat chance!), it would be obsolete before I could get anybody to buy it.
I disagree with the essay. The strength of the U.S. common law system, as other posters have noted, is the latitude of a judge to adjust the law to fit unexpected facts and circumstances (and no two cases are ever the same). Justice is a human endeavor, and justice requires a human in the loop. When interpreting law, there is a trade-off between rigid consistency and less-clear adaptability. Our forefathers wisely designed an adaptable system.
Incidentally, I read thousands of cases in law school, and I often marveled how our political system is so well tuned. We react to long term social problems after great deal of debate. We respond to immediate threats quite quickly.
Since the poster attempted to apply software engineering to the legal system, please allow me to indulge. I will attempt to describe the political process in terms of frequency response...
The will of the populace is the input force to the political system.
This input force comprises two components, we the people, and we the lobbyists.
The Executive Branch has a very high frequency response.
The legislature has a medium frequency response.
The supreme court lags behind with a low frequency response and a 180 degree phase shift.
Your company owns the copyright. 1) You might convince them to assign the copyright to you (fat chance). In that case, you need a signed document. Just do an internet search for a standard copyright assignment form. You need somebody with authority in the company to sign-off on the copyright. 2) You might convince your company to release the software under the GPL. At that point, it becomes GPL licensed to the world, which includes you. Try to sell this as a benefit to your company. 3) You could do a clean-room rewrite of the code. Basically, rewrite the product from scratch using your superior knowledge. 4) Carefully examine your contract for a loophole. If you are a contractor, and not an employee, then research the work for hire doctrine. You might actually own the program. Otherwise, if you are regular employee, there is not much you can do. My advice, don't just post it to source-forge. Even if you acted as though you owned the program, the company still owns the rights and could enforce them 10 years down the road. IAAL