Ownership and the History of American Computing

The study of ownership in the history of computing presents a rich opportunity to analyze the interplay between IP and technological development. Although historians of computing usually acknowledge the importance of this area, the broader history of ownership and computing has been generally overlooked. This Think Piece shows how historians of computing can draw from, and contribute to, work on the history of ownership. The author focuses on the period between the 1940s and 1980s, during which the legal frameworks for the ownership of machines and programs that we know today began to develop.