Intellectual Property Rights and Computer Software

'It is much more difficult than is often admitted to make a strong case for the ownership of computer software.' This closely argued study of the strengths and weaknesses of the case for intellectual property rights and against software piracy is based on material contained in the author's joint work with Douglas Adeney, Computer and Information Ethics , Greenwood Press, an imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, INC., Westport, CT, forthcoming May, 1997. The author is a member of the School of Information Studies at Charles Sturt University, PO Box 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650 Australia; tel 61 69 33 2372; fax 61 69 33 2733; email jweckert@csu.edu.au
He wishes to acknowledge the contribution to this paper of Douglas Adeney of the University of Melbourne.