Probably wasn't very clear – I wasn't trying to say anything about actual legal changes (although that's interesting too), I was wondering if instead legal culture has changed. I'm wondering if there's any fundamental difference between machines and software that causes the former to be predominantly owned while the latter is predominantly licensed, or whether it is instead because software is coming of age in a different legal and/or political and/or economic ecosystem. Or perhaps machinery went through a similar phase where licenses were more common – I have no idea if that's the case, and I'm curious to know.
