at the temporal coordinates: 9/7/01 2:06 PM, the entity known as Stainless
Steel Rat at ratinox_at_peorth.gweep.net conveyed the following:
>
> * Michael_Guzzo/Harmac_at_harmac.com on Fri, 07 Sep 2001
> | Is there any software company that's still profiting from 14 year old
> | software (it's probably a stretch to find any that still market s/w from
> | even 7 years ago)??
>
> Yes. I work for one. Our oldest product is MUMPS for PDP-11. Though we
> have not sold a new version in several years, we do have multi-million
> dollar a year support contracts for it.
And, no doubt, you would have a huge competitive advantage in that product
area if the laws were that copyright ended after a 14 year period. If
someone else tried to market *their* version of MUMPS, you'd likely crush
them in the marketplace. If they, somehow, managed to grow somehow, then
you'd be forced to be more innovative to retain your advantage. I believe
THAT is what Jefferson had in mind.
- Eric.
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