A Gift of Fire, 2edChapter 6: Intellectual Property1 PowerPoint ® Slides to Accompany A Gift of...

A Gift of Fire, 2ed Chapter 6: Intellectual Property 1

PowerPoint® Slides to Accompany

A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computers

and the Internet(2nd Edition)

by Sara Baase

San Diego State University

PowerPoint slides created by Sherry Clark

Copyright 2003 Prentice Hall


A Gift of FireIntellectual Property

Intellectual Property and Changing Technology

Copyright Law

Copying Music, Movies, Software, and Books

Solutions (Good and Bad)

Free-Speech Issues

Free Software

Issues for Software Developers



Intellectual Property Is:• Intangible creative work—not necessarily the

physical form on which it is stored or delivered.• Given legal protection in the form of copyright,

patent, trademark, and trade secret laws.

Q: How is owning a music CD different from owning the copyrights for the music on the CD?



Copyrights are granted for a limited, but long, time.

With some exceptions, copyright owners have the exclusive right to:

• Make copies of the work,• Produce derivative works,• Distribute copies,• Perform the work in public, and• Display the work in public.

Q: Distinguish between an idea and the expression of an idea in a fixed and tangible form.



Problems from New Technologies That Affect Intellectual Property OwnersHigh-quality copying.High-quantity distribution.Easier to use.Less expensive.

Q: Many argue that since the technology exists to make copies, it must be all right to do so. Why is this flawed reasoning?


U.S. Copyright Law

History1790: First U.S. copyright law; covered printed material.

Later, newer technologies (photography, sound recordings, etc.) were added.

1909: Definition of unauthorized copy formed.1960s: Some software and databases receive protection.1992: Making copies for personal gain became a felony.1997: Illegal to make copies regardless of financial gain.1998: Illegal to circumvent copy protection schemes.

Q: How does one get permission to use copyrighted material?


Copyright Law

Fair-Use DoctrinePermission to use the work is not required.Allows uses of copyrighted material that contribute to

the creation of new work and do not significantly affect sales of the material, thus depriving copyright holders of their income.

Allows some research and educational uses as well as news reporting and critiquing.

Guidelines for determining Fair Use are found in law.

Q: How does the Fair-Use Doctrine distinguish between photocopies made by students and those made by workers in a corporation?


Copyright Law

Fair-Use CasesSony v. Universal City Studios

• 1984: U.S. Supreme Court ruled that non-commercial copying (recording) of a movie for viewing at a later time was fair use.

• Court ruled that copying devices (in this case, Betamax VCR) should not be banned if they have significant legal uses.

Sega Enterprises, Ltd. v. Accolade, Inc.• 1992: Reverse engineering a complete program in order to

produce new, creative work was ruled fair use.

Q: Identify the capabilities of more recent recording devices that mirror the issues debated in the Sony and Sega cases.



MusicImproved technology allows for easy, fast, cheap, and

ubiquitous copying of music on the Web.Entrepreneurs create businesses to facilitate storing

and sharing of music files. Many individuals set up free sites for music sharing, too.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) continues to fight unauthorized copying of music.

Q: What is the current status of music file-sharing on the Web?



Movies and TV ProgramsImproved digital technologies and greater bandwidth

on the Net also allows for copying and transferring of movies and TV programs.

Businesses such as RecordTV.com and Scour provided free services to facilitate copying of broadcast intellectual material.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and other entertainment companies continue to fight unauthorized copying of their intellectual property.

Q: What is the current status of movie file-sharing on the Web?



SoftwareImproved digital technologies contribute to unauthorized

(commercial and non-commercial) copying of software.Individuals and whole businesses, here and overseas,

continue to produce, transport, and sell (or give away) copies of software, manuals and supporting material.

Software Information Industry Association (SIIA) as well as other software industry organizations and companies battle software piracy in the U.S. and abroad.

Q: What is the current status of software copying?



BooksImproved technology allows for simple, quick, and

cheap copying of books.Counterfeiters of textbooks, novels, and other printed

matter, profit by not paying publishers and/or authors for their intellectual property.

Electronic books use encryption to reduce copying, but some e-book protection schemes have been cracked.

Q: Has copying of e-books become a big problem?



The Napster Case Benefits of Napster (aside from being free):

• Share music with other users; obtain individual songs from a CD; sample songs on a CD; access more songs; access commercially unavailable songs; and enjoy other features that made Napster popular.

Legal Issues:• Was copying and distributing music through Napster within

the fair-use guidelines? If not, was Napster responsible for user actions?

The Court Decision:• Napster was guilty of encouraging and assisting copyright

infringement.

Q: What were Napster’s defending arguments?



Technology, Markets and Management, and Regulations and EnforcementTechnological Solutions:

• Expiration date encoded.• Hardware dongle required.• Copy-protection schemes.• “Activation” features.• Encryption schemes; digital-rights management (DRM).

Q: From whose point of view are the above technological solutions good? Bad?



Technology, Markets and Management, and Regulations and Enforcement (cont’d)Markets and Management:

• Subscribe to services.• Collect fees from users and large organizations.• Meter usage of intellectual property on a network.• Offer discounts to educational users.• Educate the public about the value of intellectual property

belonging to creators and publishers.

Q: From whose point of view are the above market/management solutions good? Bad?



Technology, Markets and Management, and Regulations and Enforcement (cont’d)Regulations and Enforcement:

• The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and other laws.• Identify abusers and shut them down in high-publicity raids.• Monitor abuses.• Enforce current laws and punish abusers.

Q: Which of these methods are likely to be effective?



Restrictions and Bans on TechnologyIn the past, lawsuits have delayed, restricted, or

banned the release of new technologies, including:• CD-recording devices.• Digital Audio Tape (DAT) systems.• DVD recorders.• DVD players.• MP3 players.

Q: Currently, what new technological improvements are being held back?



Restrictions and Bans on Technology (cont’d)In an attempt to reduce or prevent unauthorized

copying and distribution of intellectual property, some governments have levied taxes on:

• Audio tapes.• CD recorders.• Personal computers.• Printers.• Scanners.

Q: Are taxes a reasonable solution to compensate owners of intellectual works?



Restrictions and Bans on Technology (cont’d)Digital rights management (DRM), combined with laws such

as the DMCA, can result in heavy fines and imprisonment for violators.

The legal and monetary consequences can be applied to both pirates of intellectual works as well as to scientists and researchers of technology.

Q: Should we ban technology that has criminal uses?



The DMCA vs. Fair Use and Free SpeechControlling Usage:

• Some of our use of digital movies, books, and music is controlled by DRM and copy-protection schemes.

• Circumventing this control may violate the DMCA.

Fair Use• Prohibiting the use of circumvention tools may block exercise

of Fair Use rights.

Free Speech• Prohibiting the sharing of information about circumvention of

DRM or copy-protection schemes may violate freedom of speech.



The Future of CopyrightChallenges to the principles of copyright:

• Methods to circumvent copy-protection schemes.• Peer-to-peer (P2P) file transfer.• The view among some people that if copying is easy, or if

cheap online access is absent, then it is okay to copy.

Challenges to Fair Use:• Technological (DRM) and legal (the DMCA) restrictions.• Conflicting outcomes (e.g. reverse engineering) in the courts.• Non-traditional uses (e.g. online teaching materials) or

blurring of the guidelines associated with Fair Use.

Q: Will copyright survive these challenges? Will Fair Use?


Free-Speech Issues

Intellectual Property Protection or Violation of Free Speech?Copyright:

• Unauthorized posting of copyrighted documents for the purpose of criticizing an organization.

Trademark:• Domain names that infringe upon trademark claims.

Trade Secret:• Posting internal documents to expose unfair labor or business

practices.


Free Software

Free Software (or Open Source) Means Free From Copyright RestrictionsThe notion of free software was created by Richard

Stallman.Examples:

• GNU project.• Emacs.• “Free” compilers and utilities.• Linux.• Many others.

Q: How can/should free software developers be paid?


Issues For Software Developers

Should You Copyright or Patent Software?Copyrights:

• Protect the expression of an idea in a fixed and tangible form.• Are cheap, easy to obtain, and last a long time.• Allow fair-use of the intellectual property.

Patents:• Protect new, non-obvious, and useful processes.• Are expensive, difficult to obtain, and last for short periods of

time.• Allow licensing to other developers.


Discussion topicAssignment 5: twarting copiers:Some record companies and software companies are

experimenting with techniques to discourage large-scale distribution and use of "pirate" music and software by contaminating the supply. Consider the techniques below. Compare them, in effectiveness, ethics, and legality to other methods the industries use to reduce copyright infringement.

(1)Some record companies upload to unauthorized music-sharing sites a large number of files that have the titles of popular songs but actually contain squawks and other unpleasant noise.

(2)A software company provides to major "pirate" software distributors copies of its software containing a virus that wipes out all files on the disk on which it is installed. (The pirates are led to believe the contaminated software is coming from other pirates; they are not aware of the virus.)

Group 1: Defend both practices


Assignment 5: Thwarting copiers

(1)Some record companies upload to unauthorized music-sharing sites a large number of files that have the titles of popular songs but actually contain squawks and other unpleasant noise.

- Not violating actual copyright- frustrating, but not illegal


Assignment 5: Thwarting copiers

(2) A software company provides to major "pirate" software distributors copies of its software containing a virus that wipes out all files on the disk on which it is installed. (The pirates are led to believe the contaminated software is coming from other pirates; they are not aware of the virus.)

- targetted at known pirates, so virus destroy the copies or unlicenced work, plus what they use to make copies

- Not illegal, same as confisating weapons from criminals

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