"O f e ve ry tre e of th e gard e n th ou m aye st
fre e l
y e at; b u t of th e tre e of th e k now l
e d ge
of good and e vil
, th ou sh al
t not e at of it."
Ge ne sis 2:16- 17
In th e Garde n of Ede n, God m ade H is
state m e nt
on
proh ib iting
th e
consu m ption of th e fru it of k now l
e dge .
M ayb e th is is th e first e ve r k now n
Lice nse ! And, w e al
l
k now th e story of
de nial
of th is state m e nt by Adam and Eve .
In th e social
m e ch anism of e xch ange ,
goods are ch aracte riz e d by rival
ry in
consu m ption and e xcl
u dab il
ity from
consu m ption. R ival
ry in consu m ption
arise s w h e n a pe rson's consu m ption of a
good ob stru cts th e consu m ption of th e
sam e
good
by
anoth e r
pe rson.
Excl
u dab il
ity is th e ab il
ity of se l
l
e rs to
force consu m e rs to b e com e b u ye rs, and
th u s to pay for w h ate ve r goods and
se rvice s th e y u se . Th e se ch aracte ristics
can e ith e r e xist or not e xist in a good.
Softw are , in sim pl
e w ords, is a se t of
instru ctions for pe rform ing a task
au tom atical
l
y
th rou gh
com pu te riz e d
de vice s. Softw are , as an e xpre ssion of
ide as com prise s th e gu ide l
ine s for a
com pu te r to com pl
e te th e give n task .
Softw are can b e th ou gh t of as b e ing a
good. Assu m e th at a pe rson consu m e s a
softw are good. Th is doe s not affe ct th e
consu m ption of th e sam e softw are by
oth e r
consu m e rs
as,
th e ore tical
l
y,
softw are ne ith e r w e ars nor te ars.
M ore ove r, th e consu m ption of softw are
by a consu m e r doe s not cau se any de tri-
tions to th e softw are . Be ing a digital
e x-
pre ssion,
softw are
can
b e
copie d
infinite l
y w ith ou t any l
oss of q u al
ity.
Th e ge ne ral
assu m ption of softw are b e -
ing non- rival
can b e re visite d as rival
ry if
softw are is m ade for th e posse ssion and
ow ne rsh ip of a particu l
ar b u sine ss organ-
iz ation sol
e l
y. In th is case , th e softw are
b e com e s rival
goods k e pt or m ade none x-
cl
u sive .
Assu m e th at a softw are produ ce r h as pos-
se ssion of a particu l
ar softw are . It is e co-
nom ical
l
y fe asib l
e for th e produ ce r to
e xcl
u de consu m e rs from consu m ing th e
good w h il
e h aving no rival
ry in consu m p-
tion am ong consu m e rs. Th u s, th e soft-
w are can b e vie w e d as a cl
u b good w ith
possib l
e e xcl
u sion and no rival
ry in con-
su m ption.
In an al
te rnate e nvironm e nt, th e produ -
ce r distrib u ting th e softw are ove r th e In-
te rne t com pl
e te l
y l
oose s control
ove r th e
softw are . Any one on th e Inte rne t can
m ak e th e distrib u te d softw are b e ne ficial
to oth e rs, th u s m ak ing th e softw are as
non- e xcl
u dab l
e from consu m ption. Be -
ing non- rival
and non- e xcl
u dab l
e , soft-
w are can al
so b e vie w e d as pu re pu b l
ic
good.
W e can not m ak e a de cision on softw are
as a good and adopt th e principl
e s of dis-
trib u tion of goods to th e distrib u tion of
softw are . Softw are h as its ow n se ve ral
di-
m e nsions w h ich al
so affe ct th e distrib u -
tion of softw are .
Com m e rcial
D im e nsions:
-- Th e val
u e of softw are is not q u antifi-
ab l
e w ith ou t consu m ption. Th e gre ate r
th e su rpl
u s of u se rs for a particu l
ar
softw are , th e gre ate r th e val
u e of th e
softw are .
-- Com m e rcial
e xpl
oitation of th e
de ve l
ope d softw are sh ou l
d occu r as
q u ick l
y as possib l
e , re du cing th e tim e
to m ark e t.
S oftw are Licens e: a Curtain
Rais er
16
