Right to Own an Architecture

Right to own an architecture (by Wolfgang Koehler, Meaning, Germany 10/2008) The social issue I would like to discuss here is: â€Å"Suppose a computer manufacturer develops a new machine architecture. To what extent should the company be allowed to own that architecture? What policy would be best for society? † To develop a new machine architecture would require many recourses. Manpower, research laboratories, manufacturing equipment and last but not least a lot of money.Since companies are in business to make money for themselves as well as heir shareholders the answer to the first question to me is clear: 100%. Now we'll take a look at the pros and cons of such a policy on different levels of society. Any policy of course will have a direct impact on the people that are directly involved with this company. They are the shareholders on one side and the employees on the other. If the company has the right to own this architecture the value of the company's shares will go up.A lso it will secure the employees workplaces or even add additional Jobs. This leads us to the next level of society to be taken in consideration, the city where this company is located. Not only will it receive more tax revenue as the company becomes more profitable it also might be able to attract more qualified people. The growing demand for components also might lead to additional companies opening businesses in town. All of this will create a better economy for the city and the people living there.One might argue that owning a certain technology will lead to a monopoly. The past forever showed that most companies are not able to supply the growing demand for their product and therefore they will license out the technology to others to capture a bigger portion of the market. At this point the prices for the product will also go down and the architecture will become affordable for more and more people The right of companies to own their developments actually leads to further devel opment, because nobody wants to be outdone by the competition.A good example is the Apple pod as well as the phone. At the beginning Apple was the only company with such products on sale. Today Just about every major electronics manufacturer has similar or even better products in their portfolio. Since not everybody will have an immediate need for the product right at the point of its introduction to the market it can be summarized that a policy of 100% owner ship of the architecture has mostly positive impact on the society as such. The few perceived disadvantages are mostly based on wants rather then needs.