"Shrink-Wrapped" Package Software

Computers became cheaper, more customers.
- Customer expertise dropped, consulting more expensive.
- Customer needs too varied, force the customers to use a single format by selling in a package.
Problem of customers sharing copies, and "stealing" customers from the vendor. Competitors can buy the software and reverse engineer it.
- Contracts don't work: employees and customers can be induced to sign, but third parties cannot, and contract terms cannot be enforced on them.
- Common problem led to legislation and common law. Under copyright (著作権) software became proprietary, with copying prohibited. America later also allowed software and business methods to be patented, and lobbies other countries to do so too.
- Not free any more!
Development of embedded software, also called "firmware".