Interesting quote in the IBM amicus brief in regard to Bilski
“Given the realities that software source code is human readable, and object code can be reverse engineered, it is difficult for software developers to resort to secrecy. Thus, without patent protection, the incentives to innovate in the field of software are significantly reduced. Patent protection has promoted the free sharing of source code on a patentee’s terms – which has fueled the explosive growth of open source software development.”
IBM is a patent machine, so their opinion is always interesting to watch. I know many think the argument is weak, but in a world without patents, everything becomes about secrecy because the only protection you have is to keep it secret. Certainly the open source movement suffers in a world of secrecy.