No, you get a patent for your secret anti-clog dishwasher, so that the courts grant you a monopoly on it. In exchange, you have to give something back - specifically, you have to reveal your secret design to society - so that it is useful to someone in the future. That's the contract that you agree to, when you patent something.
If you don't want to reveal your design, you could always keep it a trade secret.
If you're a genius working on software, you shouldn't have trouble filing a patent that would be useful to another engineer, once it expires. For some reason, though, people instead patent stupid shit like 'a software system that does _______.' They don't actually explain how to build a software system that does _____, they don't give anything back to society, and are instead leeching of the largess of our legal system.
If you want protection for your invention, tell us how it works. It's a pretty simple concept.
But does mp3 fall in the category you describe? I agree with you that many software patents should not be granted, but the distinction should not be between software/notsoftware.
If you don't want to reveal your design, you could always keep it a trade secret.
If you're a genius working on software, you shouldn't have trouble filing a patent that would be useful to another engineer, once it expires. For some reason, though, people instead patent stupid shit like 'a software system that does _______.' They don't actually explain how to build a software system that does _____, they don't give anything back to society, and are instead leeching of the largess of our legal system.
If you want protection for your invention, tell us how it works. It's a pretty simple concept.