The Software IP Detective’s Handbook: Measurement, Comparison, and Infringement Detection

9. Software Forensics

The word forensic comes from the Latin word forensis meaning “of or before the forum.” In ancient Rome, an accused criminal and the accusing victim would present their cases before a group in a public forum. In this very general sense it was not unlike the modern U.S. legal system where plaintiffs and defendants present their cases in a public forum. Of course, the rules and procedures of the presentation, of which there are very many, differ from those days. Also, whether in a civil trial or a criminal trial, all parties can be represented by lawyers trained in the intricacies of these rules and procedures.

At these ancient Roman forums, both parties would present their cases to the forum and one party would be declared ...