Re: Fundamental Question
I sort of agree, but patents have considerably shorter terms of protection than copyright. Whilst the difference in practical terms is largely irrelevant* at this point in history, who knows what the future holds. The logical thing to do is for a special category of software protection to be created by the world's legal systems, pegged at a reasonable length of time - say, until it is EoL'd. That way, the creators get their money, and people who want to maintain whatever it is (e.g. Win XP) can do so.**
*Given that most software is EoL'd long before a patent term expires, and ancient history once a copyright expires.
**This is just a thought experiment - there will be caveats all over the place.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
