Z:gnu-www-ja-stallman-mec-india--d9f317-Now, people sometimes ask me:/en

Now, people sometimes ask me: why is software different from other fields? Sometimes, of course they ask this in a rather nasty fashion, they say: &ldquo;the other fields can deal with patents, why should software be an exception?&rdquo; Now that's a nasty way of putting it because it's making the assumption that it's wrong to want to escape from a problem. I could imagine I am saying: &ldquo;well, other people could get cancer, why shouldn't you?&rdquo; Clearly, if it's a problem, enabling any field to escape is good. But it is a good and serious question: are these fields the same issue? Do patents affect all these fields the same way? Is the right policy for software the same as the right policy for automobile engines or pharmaceuticals or chemical processes, you know, this is a serious question which is worth looking at.