Lambda the Ultimate

A regular user of groklaw, the legal blog that discusses the SCO vs IBM litigation and related matters (including some generic aspects of computer science and intellectual property law), has written a paper entitled Explanation of Computer Theory for Lawyers, designed to educate legal practitioners on the subject of computability theory, and how it might apply to IP law. The paper was written as a reaction to the oral arguments conducted Monday before the Supreme Court of the United States in the Bilski case, which many observers expect to eliminate so-called "business method patents" from patentable subject matter in the US, and may have an effect on software patents as well.

While it does contain some legalese, it's actually quite useful as an introduction to the topic for other laypersons or students in CS or mathematics. It provides a high overview of the topic--eschewing many details that a praticing computer scientist would need to know, but it's an interesting read nonetheless.

Available here.