Special Rules for Computer Chips
The Semiconductor Chip Protection Act 1984 (USA) is an extension of the Copyright Act that creates a hybrid between patent and copyright protection. The Act was written because copyright protection does not extend to programs embodied in integrated circuits.
Software as Intellectual Property
- The production and distribution of computer software is a lucrative industry as a glance at Microsoft will reveal.
- Software, like the printed word, sound, and music, is expensive to create but can be reproduced at minimal cost.
- Because software can be immensely expensive to create, the ability to create copies of software is a considerable threat to the profitability of software companies.
Software and the Law
- The law concerning software is not clear and is still being formulated.
- In the USA the Copyright Act was amended in 1980 to include software as a literary work.
- Software has some of the characteristics of literary works and some of the characteristics of engineered systems.
- Consequently, software can be protected by both copyright and patent. Software can also be protected by trade secret legislation.
- The very nature of software challenges all previous notions of intellectual property.
- The source code of software exists in text form and can be thought of as a literary work. However, the value of the software is in its function and not its form.
- The purpose of software is to perform a useful function which makes it more like an invention.
- Because software can be represented as a mathematical algorithm, it is not patentable (algorithms can’t be patented).
- The software you “buy” is often obtained under license and you do not own it.
- Software manufacturers developed the concept of look and feel.
- In 1986 Whelan v. Jaslow in New Jersey established that copyright protection extended
to its non-
textual aspects (That is, its so- called look and feel). - In 1992 Computer Associates v. Altai partially reversed the earlier decision and allowed copying via reverse engineering. This judgment was echoed by the Sega v. Accolade case in 1992.
- In 1992 the US passed the Software Copyright protection act making it illegal to copy software. Prison terms up to 5 years can be awarded to anyone copying any combination of programs worth more than $2,500.
Software and DMCA
- The Digital Millennium Copyright Act has important implications for software copying as well as more conventional copying.
- The DMCA makes it illegal to circumvent any mechanism designed to prevent copying.
- In 2000 Universal City Studios v. Reimerdes established that selling software on the WWW designed to allow you to copy encrypted DVDs was illegal.
Software Piracy
- Software vendors distinguish between two classes of software piracy.
- Commercial piracy is the large-
scale copying of programs performed by illegal organizations. - Casual copying is small-
scale piracy that takes place when someone gives a copy of a program to a friend.
- Software vendors have different strategies for dealing with these two classes of software pirates.
- A software vendor once sent out a form to people inviting them to apply for free software. This software searched machines for illegal copies of their software and subtly encoded the results in the “application for free software”. Some people were surprised to get visits from men in expensive suits.
Limiting Software Piracy
- Software vendors have attempted to deal with casual pirates in several ways.
- Some use special recording techniques on their media that introduce errors and prevent a computer performing the copying. Only a special boot program can load the software.
- Some vendors use codes that have to be entered at installation. The software checks whether the code is legal. Of course, there’s noting to stop you copying the code.
- Some vendors supply the required product code via the phone which forces people to explicitly lie in order to copy software illegally.
- Microsoft uses product activation. A key with the software is combined with a key that is a unique function of your computer to create an new key. This key is sent to Microsoft to generate a third key that is unique to both the software and your computer. This third key enables the software. You cannot reuse the software without going back to Microsoft and personally explaining what you are doing.
- Spyware can be introduced to seek illegal software and report back to the software vendor anyone who installs software without a license.
Copy Prevention
- On 22 April 2005 a French court ordered DVD vendors to pull copies of the David Lynch film "Mulholland Drive" off store shelves.
- The appeals court ruled that copy prevention software on the DVD violated privacy rights in the case of one consumer who tried to transfer the film onto a video cassette for personal use.
DVDs and Region Encoding
DVDs can be region encoded which means that a DVD encoded for region X can only be played on a player designed for region X. The world is divided into regions 1 to 6.
REGION 0 – All regions
REGION 1 -
REGION 2 -
REGION
3 -
REGION 4 -
REGION 5 -
REGION 6 -
REGION 7 -
REGION 8 -
You can buy a DVD in the USA that can be played in Canada but not in Mexico. A DVD bought in Japan can be played in England but not Taiwan.
Why have Region Encoding?
Region encoding is intended to prevent a worldwide free market in DVDs. Applying a region code ensures that a DVD is released into a market at a time and at a price and with specific contents determined by the manufacturer.
For example, a DVD may be released in the USA six months after a film. If that film is released six months later in Europe, DVDs from the USA may reach the same market at the same time as the film. Region encoding ensures that this cannot happen.
However, any enthusiast can obtain a multi-
A Comment found on the Internet
A frustrated DVD user makes the following comment on alexbarnett.net. I don't expect to see a message on the back of my sandwich cautioning me that:
"You may not eat this product outside of the UK, although the mustard came from the US, so if you are thinking of eating the sandwich there you can eat the mustard, but nothing else. Especially the lettuce. Oh, and you can only eat the mustard 4 times if you are so inclined".
Region Encoding Enhancement
Regional encoding enhancement, RCE, provides an additional encoding enhancement
that ensures disks from Region 1 (The USA and Canada) cannot be played in ‘region-
Even RCE can often be defeated.
Region Encoding – Comments
Some regard region encoding as illegal at an international level because it violates
the rules of free trade. If regional encoding is used to stop a conflict between
first-
What’s Possible in the Future?
- Copyright holders, primarily large commercial organizations such as Sony and Hollywood want copying made more difficult.
- You cannot copy commercial DVDs because the copying device manufacturers (sometimes the same people) install mechanisms that will not record copyrighted material.
- It has been suggested that future hard disk drives include mechanisms that refuse to store copyrighted data.
- It has been suggested that VCRs and recordable DVD players be designed to make it
impossible to fast-
forward through the advertising in a TV program.
IP, Plagiarism and Universities
In a university, students may engage in a number of activities that are fall under the heading of academic misconduct.
Collusion – two or more students working together on a piece of work intended to be carried out by a single student.
Copying – taking the work of another person and passing it off as your own.
Plagiarism – using someone else’s work without acknowledging it.
Why do Students Cheat? (From Fintan Culwin)
- because the task they have been set is too difficult for them
- because they are not capable of doing the task set
- because they are capable but not sufficiently organized
- because they are capable but want a better mark
- because their families want them to get a better mark
- because they are not prepared to devote the amount of time the task requires
- because they have devoted the time and feel they deserve the mark
- because the number of assessment tasks set is unreasonable
- because everyone else is cheating
- because cheating has become a habit
- because they do not agree that they are cheating
- because the tutor connives with the cheating
- because the resources required are not available
What is Plagiarism ?
From the Centre for the Study of Higher Education (Australia)
- Cheating in an exam either by copying from other students or using unauthorized other aids.
- Submitting, as one’s own, an assignment that another person has completed.
- Downloading information, text, computer code, artwork, graphics or other internet and presenting it as one’s own without acknowledgment.
- Quoting or paraphrasing material from a source without acknowledgment.
- Preparing a correctly cited and referenced assignment from individual handing part or all of that work in twice for separate subjects/marks.
IP, Plagiarism and Universities
The objection universities have to “the use of non-
- a university’s code of ethics – academics are expected to be honest and not present the work of others as your own.
- the education process – if a student copies material or colludes with another, he or she is failing to carry out the learning/discovery processes upon which education is based.
- the assessment process – if a student passes off the work of others as their own, he or she is attempting to defeat the goals of the examination/evaluation process.
Detecting Pre-
- Students sometimes incorporate pre-
used material in their reports and assignments. - Much of this pre-
used material comes from the Internet – often by cutting and pasting. - Several programs exist to analyze a student’s report for material taken from the Internet (or other students).
- Sometimes grammar style checkers can be used. These checkers record the statistics of the text as a running average (word length, writing style, active/passive, punctuation). The output of a checker can be used to detect abrupt changes of style that indicate a change of authorship.
Problems (for class work)
- What is intellectual property?
- What are the essential differences between copyright protection and patent protection?
- Which is worse, copyright infringement and plagiarism; and why?
- If music is shared between people using the internet by swapping MP3 files, who loses? Who gains?
- Can a dance be copyrighted?
- Does copyright help or hinder censorship and control by a government?
- What characteristics must an invention have in order for it to be patented?
- How can patent law be used by companies as a tool of competition in a war with their competitors?
- The greatest invention ever would be a perpetual motion machine. Why couldn’t you patent it?
- Why are computer programs such a difficult area of intellectual property to handle?
- If you have a computer and sell it to a friend when you buy a new computer, are you breaking any rules/laws governing IP?
- What is fair use in the concept of copying material from a book?
- Is reverse engineering legal?
- Are there circumstances in which copying software is ethical but illegal?
- Why is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act so controversial?
- Why (from a copyright point of view) is the ownership of books different from the ownership of software?
- A key concept at the heart of patent protection is “prior art”. What does this expression mean?
- Attitudes to IP are often divided on political lines. How do conservatives, liberals, libertarians, and socialists view intellectual property differently?
- Why is it so difficult to protect software? This question asks what features of software make it particularly difficult to apply IP protection to it.
- What was the Napster case and how has it affected (if at all) the notion of IP protection and the use of the Internet?
- If you have a desktop computer and a laptop computer, can you load the same software onto both computers and use each legally, provided you don’t use both computers at the same time?
- If you create an operating system that has the look and feel of Apple’s operating system, you might be sued. Some might think that suing you is hypocritical? Why? (look at Apple’s early history).
- Is reverse engineering legal? Is it moral? Is it justified?