Argentina rules: no software copyright

[Adam Back <aba@dcs.ex.ac.uk>]

(from cpsr list, from edupage)

: ARGENTINE SUPREME COURT RULES SOFTWARE PIRACY LEGAL 
:
: Executives of Microsoft, IBM and Unisys are protesting a recent
: Argentine Supreme Court decision ruling that antiquated copyright
: laws don't cover computer software.  Software makers point out that
: royalties aren't paid on about 70% of the software sold in
: Argentina, resulting in roughly $165 million in revenue losses
: annually.  A recent study by Price Waterhouse & Co. indicates the
: biggest abusers are Argentine federal and local government agencies
: and small private businesses.  "There's no culture in Argentina of
: assigning value to software," says a Unisys unit president.  (Wall
: Street Journal 6 Feb 98)

I like best Mark Grant's comment on why copyright should be scrapped:
it is a form of government subsidy.

Adam