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intellectual property (cont.)
Software as intellectual property
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The law concerning software is not clear and is steal being formulated In USA Copyright Act amended in 1980 to
include software as a literary work Software has some characteristics of literary
works and some of engineered systems. Protected by both copyright and patent Protected by trade secret legislation
Software and law3
Nature of software.....challenges notions of intellectual property The source code of software in text form and can
be thought of as a literary work. However, the value of the software is in its functions 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 presented as a mathematical algorithm, it isn't patentable (algorithms cant be patented)
The software you “buy” is often obtained under license and you do not own it
Software piracy4
The biggest problem concerning computer software and IPR is software Piracy
software piracy as the act of copying,distributing, or using proprietary software.
Software vendors distinguish between 2 classes of software piracy: Commercial piracy
Large scale copying By illegal orgs Casual piracy
Small scale...give a copy of program to a friend
Solution for piracies: Codes/serial numbers/ product code via phone/product activation Spywares...report illegal use to vendors(soft without license)
Key Intellectual Property Issues Issues that apply to intellectual property
and information technology Plagiarism Cybersquatting
Plagiarism
Theft and passing off of someone’s ideas or words as one’s own
Many students Do not understand what constitutes
plagiarism Believe that all electronic content is in the
public domain Plagiarism detection systems
Check submitted material against databases of electronic content
Plagiarism (continued)
Steps to combat student plagiarism Help students understand what constitutes
plagiarism Show students how to document Web
pages Schedule major writing assignments in
portions Educate students about plagiarism
detection services
Plagiarism Detection Services and Software
Ethics in Information Technology, Second Edition
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Cybersquatting
Trademark is anything that enables a consumer to differentiate one company’s products from another’s May be
Logo Package design Phrase Sound Word
Cybersquatting (continued)
Trademark law Trademark’s owner has the right to prevent
others from using the same mark Or confusingly similar mark
Cybersquatters Registered domain names for famous
trademarks or company names Hope the trademark’s owner would buy the
domain name For a large sum of money
Cybersquatting (continued)
To control cybersquatting Register all possible domain names
.org .com .info
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Current trademark holders are given time
to assert their rights in the new top-level domains before registrations are opened to the general public
Summary
Intellectual property is any unique product of the human intellect that has commercial value.
Intellectual property is protected by Copyrights Patents Trade secrets
Plagiarism is stealing and passing off the ideas and words of another as one’s own
Cybersquatting Registration of a domain name by an unaffiliated
party
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