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 Fire, 2ed
Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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A Gift of Fire
Intellectual 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
A Gift of Fire, 2ed
Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Intellectual Property and
Changing Technology
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?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Intellectual Property and
Changing Technology
Copyrights are granted for a limited, but long,
time.
With some exceptions, copyright owners have
the exclusive right to:
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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.
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Intellectual Property and
Changing Technology
Problems from New Technologies That Affect
Intellectual Property Owners
High-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?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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U.S. Copyright Law
History
1790: 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?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Copyright Law
Fair-Use Doctrine
Permission 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?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Copyright Law
Fair-Use Cases
Sony 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.
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Copying Music, Movies,
Software, and Books
Music
Improved 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?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Copying Music, Movies,
Software, and Books
Movies and TV Programs
Improved 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?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Copying Music, Movies,
Software, and Books
Software
Improved 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?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Copying Music, Movies,
Software, and Books
Books
Improved 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?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Copying Music, Movies,
Software, and Books
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?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Solutions (Good and Bad)
Technology, Markets and Management, and
Regulations and Enforcement
Technological Solutions:
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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?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Solutions (Good and Bad)
Technology, Markets and Management, and
Regulations and Enforcement (cont’d)
Markets and Management:
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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?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Solutions (Good and Bad)
Technology, Markets and Management, and
Regulations and Enforcement (cont’d)
Regulations and Enforcement:
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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?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Solutions (Good and Bad)
Restrictions and Bans on Technology
In the past, lawsuits have delayed, restricted, or banned the
release of new technologies, including:
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CD-recording devices.
Digital Audio Tape (DAT) systems.
DVD recorders.
DVD players.
MP3 players.
Q: Currently, what new technological improvements are being held back?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Solutions (Good and Bad)
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:
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Audio tapes.
CD recorders.
Personal computers.
Printers.
Scanners.
Q: Are taxes a reasonable solution to compensate owners of intellectual works?
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Solutions (Good and Bad)
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?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Solutions (Good and Bad)
The DMCA vs. Fair Use and Free Speech
Controlling 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.
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Solutions (Good and Bad)
The Future of Copyright
Challenges 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?
A Gift of Fire, 2ed
Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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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.
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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Free Software
Free Software (or Open Source) Means Free
From Copyright Restrictions
The notion of free software was created by Richard Stallman.
Examples:
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GNU project.
Emacs.
“Free” compilers and utilities.
Linux.
Many others.
Q: How can/should free software developers be paid?
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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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.
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Chapter 6: Intellectual Property
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