Copyrightable like a book.
Patentable like a mouse trap.
Can hold trade secrets, like a glass of Coca Cola.
A contract you have to ’sign’ to use it, like a cellphone account.
A way of advertising to your captive audience, just like the movies.
Artificially expensive, like a diamond.
A recurring source of support revenue, like a lawn service.
Able to have the creator can disavow all liability for anything that may go wrong, and get away with it, like… I can’t think of anything else like that; maybe politicians.
Nothing else can do more than a couple of those things. Software is just too good to be true.
(Re-written from a few comments on Slashdot.)
