Math You Can't Use: Patents, Copyright, and Software [Hardcover]

Ben Klemens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2005 | ISBN-10: 0815749422 | ISBN-13: 978-0815749424

This lively and innovative book is about computer code and the legal controls and restrictions on those who write it. The widespread use of personal computers and the Internet have made it possible to release new data or tools instantaneously to virtually the entire world. However, while the digital revolution allows quick and extensive use of these intellectual properties, it also means that their developers face new challenges in retaining their rights as creators. Drawing on a host of examples, Ben Klemens describes and analyzes the intellectual property issues involved in the development of computer software. He focuses on software patents because of their powerful effect on the software market, but he also provides an extensive discussion of how traditional copyright laws can be applied to code. The book concludes with a discussion of recommendations to ease the constraints on software development. This is the first book to confront these problems with serious policy solutions. It is sure to become the standard reference for software developers, those concerned with intellectual property issues, and for policymakers seeking direction. It is critical that public policy on these issues facilitates progress rather than hindering it. There is too much at stake.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This adds some interesting perspective to the debate about software patents." —Karl Friedrich Lenz, Lenz Blog, 1/18/2006

About the Author

Ben Klemens is a guest scholar at the Center on Social and Economic Dynamics at the Brookings Institution, where he writes programs to perform quantitative analyses and policy-oriented simulations. He also consults for the World Bank on intellectual property in the developing world and computer-based simulations of immigration policy.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 181 pages
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press (December 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815749422
• ISBN-13: 978-0815749424
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,071,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Law > Intellectual Property > Communications

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a book you can use..., December 14, 2005

By 

Zoe Konovalov - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Math You Can't Use: Patents, Copyright, and Software (Hardcover)

Klemens has a knack for bringing humour and spirit to a subject most people might be inclined to regard as dull (i.e., software patent policy) - as well as explaining why addressing that subject is crucial. His background as a trained economist and practicing computer programmer gives him inside understanding of both the theoretical policy debate as well as its practical impact on the work of coding. The book is an invaluable resource - and you'll love the banana protective device diagram.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book Review, December 26, 2005

By 

ViSa (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Math You Can't Use: Patents, Copyright, and Software (Hardcover)

MATH YOU CAN'T USE

by Ben Klemens

pp. 181, Brookings Institution Press, Washington D.C., 2005

It is the ideas of inventors that drive the continuous technological progress in our societies. It then becomes important to ask if these inventors are getting the right incentives to innovate. What rights should an inventor be allowed to have over his invention/idea? Is his idea his alone? or is the idea anyone's who understands it? What does it mean to own an idea? The question of whether the "fugitive fermentation of an individual brain*" is a public good or the justifiably exclusive property of the individual brain is clearly an urgent one given the value we place on technological progress.

The subtleties of what constitutes an intellectual's excludable property and what constitutes the general public's property are usually outside the grasp of the general non-specialist crowd. Even amongst specialists (economists, computer people and so on) the discussions on the subject remain constrained by disciplinary boundaries and jargon in the blind men and elephant sort of way. Economists shy away from conversations with computer scientists who generously return the favour. Stated differently, the problem is that few economists write video games and even fewer video game writers would like to be spotted reading economics texts. This is a pity because if economists and software writers could talk to each other what else but the market for intellectual property in computer software would they talk about? The good news is that Klemens is at least, an economist and as he points out several times, he did write a video game.

To adequately understand the dynamics of the regulation of the market for software innovation, one needs to be a jack of several trades like, economics, computer science, law and even mathematics. In 'Math You Can't Use' Klemens brings this scarce combination of skills to bear upon this debate. His training as an economist as well as his facility with the arcane world of software programming puts him at a unique vantage point to survey the world of software patents. Add to this a knack for gentle humor and brevity of language and what you get is an immensely readable book that lays bare the economics, the math, the code and the legalese that underlie the mess that the world of patenting intellectual property in the software market involves.

Judging the book by its cover I expected the book to be a collection of mathematical theorems based on some abstract models of the software patenting business. I assumed that the theorems represented math I could not use simply because it was based on models that relied on unrealistic assumptions. Hence I expected the book to be the author's labor of love to mathematical reasoning that was in the end quite use-less for solving real world problems.

I was way off the mark there. The book's central claim is that there is a lot of math out there (theorems, lemmas, propositions, algorithms and so on) that you can't use because someone else came up with that math before you and now insists that the said math is his and his alone to cherish, protect and profit from. The main theorem that drives the ideas in this book is the Church Turing Thesis which allows us to show that a lot of software code is actually just a bunch of mathematical statements. Klemens creatively uses this thesis to argue his main points in the book.

'Math You Can't Use' actually reads like a generously embellished academic article which is a good thing as far as the pace at which ideas are presented in the book is concerned. For people interested in the area of software patents, this book will serve as a self-contained, down and dirty introduction to this area. From how computers work (for instance, how does a keystroke translate to text on the screen) to reporting rigorous economic theory, Klemens does an elegant job of walking the tightrope between academic rigour and readability. This book will be useful to students of the economics of innovation, computer scientists who read and policy makers.

(C)2005 ViSa

4.0 out of 5 stars Extremely informative, if a little inaccurate, January 13, 2012

By 

David A Pritchard (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Math You Can't Use: Patents, Copyright, and Software (Hardcover)

I am a computer scientist and mathematician who decided to read this book based solely on the title. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot, but in some cases the book was dated and I learned from googling around to see the current state of affairs.

The good stuff: explaining the initial history of patent law for software in a clear and interesting way. Talking about the distinctions between patents, copyright, and DMCA rights. Giving accurate indications of how software is generated collaboratively and how it evolves. Talking about what sort of transformations to code are trivial (changing languages, renaming, reordering). Continuing a pretty good distinction between interface and implementation and framing most of the legality around that.

The bad stuff: reducing all algorithms to math. As indicated in the title, the starting reasoning is that programs = math, and math can't be patented. But the = is a misleading over-simplification, in the sense that real devices are constantly interacting with users and hardware. Even comparing a Turing machine to a simple RAM device with no IO, there's a huge practical difference in running time between using a tape and using random access memory... and patents are mostly about practicality. Also, FPGAs seemed to be described inaccurately.

Badly hidden agenda: abolishing all software patents. In some places you may want to skip a paragraph or two of single-minded argumentation towards this goal.

Bottom line: This book makes me appreciate more of the news on patents. If you know lots of math/programming theory but not the business side, I highly recommend this book.

PS: Ben always talks about "programmers in the basement" of every company. Why do they all have to get basement offices? Who is working above-ground at Google?