The laws pertaining to software patents must be reworked extensively so the patents are clearly understood. The issuance of software patents, particularly for algorithms and "look and feel" concepts that can be readily rediscovered/invented, must be stopped or at least more wisely controlled. The ability to issue a patent on a well-known algorithm that has been known to the public for some time must be denied. The patent approval process, wherein it can take up to five years to issue a patent in an industry that is evolving radically over the span of a single year, must be replaced with something more timely and effective. To spend years working on a program only to find that it violates some patent that was in the process while you were working on the program and could not possibly have known about it is ridiculous. It may be best to abolish the idea of patenting software, using the copyright as the only means of rights protection. Copyrights on ``look and feel'' should not be allowed; copyrights only on actual software source code should be allowed.
The national information highway is currently based on the Internet, and efforts are underway to improve a portion of the Internet by forming the NREN (National Research and Education Network). Technical barriers to making this happen are already overcome to a large extent. Political barriers are far more difficult to overcome, particularly with special interest groups lobbying in their own interests instead of in the national interest. Consequently, an industry-based reuse council and an education program for Congress must be set up to look out for the national interests and to keep Congress informed of the issues.
A similar university-based council and education program for Congress must be set up to look out for the national interests in terms of the free exchange of information between our universities.
Too little attention is paid to the economics of software reuse, and a "standard" economic model for software reuse should be developed. The cost of reusing software must be less than the cost of developing new software, but much of the reuse efforts today do not consider the cost factor.
Finally, export controls placed on the software industry have been ineffective and served mainly to hurt the software industry as opposed to afford the protection they were originally intended to provide. These export controls must be removed.