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| '-+ Pat. & Copyr. Law
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| '-+ Software Piracy
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Study Guide



  1. Laws and policies


  2. Court cases

      • Sued Justice Dept. for software piracy.
      • In 1982, Inslaw landed a $10M contract w/Justice Dept. to instal PROMIS case-tracking software in 20 offices.
      • Then they allegedly spent $8M enhancing PROMIS on the assumption that they could renegotiate contract to recoup expenses.
      • But after Justice Dept. got the source code, they terminated contract and pirated code.
        • Was the Justice Dept. ethically obligated to pay Inslaw even though they had the source code and their own programmers?
      • By 1985, Inslaw was forced into bankruptcy.
      • Owners kept fighting, & case ended up in U.S. Bankruptcy Ct. for DC.
      • In Feb. '88, Inslaw was awarded $6.8M damages, plus legal fees.
        • Shouldn't the Justice Department have to pay Inslaw the full $8M?
    • The B.S.A. was awarded costs and damages following the admission that a Hong Kong company was using illegal software.
    • The company was also found in contempt of court proceedings by hiding hardware containing the software and in many cases deleting it, in an attempt to mislead the investigation.
    • In addition to this latest action, the B.S.A. has this year forced settlements with three other organizations in Hong Kong.
  3. Novell and M icrosoft settle largest BBS piracy case ever
    • Scott W. Morris, operator of the Assassin's Guild B.B.S., has agreed to pay Microsoft and Novell $70,300 in cash and forfeit computer hardware valued at more than $40,000.
    • In the raid, marshals seized 13 computers, 11 modems, a satellite dish, 9 gigs of online data, and over 40 gigs of off-line data.
    • Director of Enforcement for the B.S.A. said "this case sets an important precedent for this industry."
  4. Novell files software piracy suits against 17 companies in California
    • The suits allege that the defendants were fraudulently obtaining Novell upgrades and/or counterfeiting NetWare boxes to giv ethe appearance of new product.
    • The suit follows Novell's discovery that the upgrade product was being sold in Indonesia, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, as well as the United States.
  5. The Department of Defense gets busted
  6. F.B.I. reveals arrest in major CD-ROM piracy case
    • The first major case of CD-ROM piracy in the United States.
    • A Canadian father and son were found in possession of 15,000 counterfeit copies of REBEL ASSAULT and MYST that were being sold at 25% of the retail value.
    • Both men are free on bail.
  7. CD maker punished for piracy
    • A SINO-U.S. joint venture was caught producing unauthorized CD's and has been punished.
    • The company produced 857,800 CD's in the course of two years, most being sold in the domestic market.
    • The suit was filed alleging that KIS infringed upon the Trademark and Tradedress as well as committed fraudulent abuse of Novell's Upgrade License Program.
    • During the raid, re-labeled upgrade products were seized. Seized documentation indcated that the counterfeit products were obtained from KIS Technology, Inc.
    • Novell charged that the B.B.S. infringed on their copyrights and trademarks by copying portions of Novell's network operating system, NetwWare(r), and illegally distributing them via the B.B.S.
    • Novell states that they will aggressively pursue all violators.
    • Novell has established an anti-piracy hotline for reporting illegal use of Novell software. 1-800 PIRATES
    • Pierre Barkett, operator of the board, agreed to forfeit his computer equipment and to pay $200,000 to Novell.
    • The suit alleged infringement of Trademark and Trade dress as well as fraudulent abuse of Novell's Upgrade License Program.
    • The illegal software was sold in the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and in the United States.
    • Novell says they are determined to protect their copyrights worldwide.

  8. The Reasons

    • Money is the main reason, when you look at how much stays inside one country's economy when they don't pay for software. That money is going into somebody's pocket.
    • Acclaim is rare except in the form of the handles that these software "pirates" use when couriering copied software. It just wouldn't do if everyone knew who these people really were.
    • Knowledge is a questionable motive. One could argue that by making certain software available to everyone, then being proficient with that software is no longer a desired skill, killing the market for said package and the need for support of that package.
    • Addiction is a circular argument. Why would someone want to pay for an add-on to a software package that they obtained for free? The law has already been broken so why not go the whole nine yards?
    • Peer Pressure falls more into the hacking arena. The actual acquiring of some software could require skills outside the normal realm of everyday computer users, unless you have friends with skills.

  9. The Pro's and Con's for Justification


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