Chapter 6

Vignette

RIAA Music Piracy Fights

1.) Is the RIAA’s strong stand on copyright infringement helping or hurting the music recording industry?

Ans:

RIAA’s about strong stand of the copyright infringement, of course helping much the recording industry. It is because RIAA justifies its strong antipiracy efforts as mean of protecting the ability of the recording industry to invest in new artist and new music, and giving legitimate online music sharing services a chance to be successful.

2.) Could an ISP’s implementation and enforcement of the RIAA’s multitier strategy have a negative impact on the ISP?

Ans:

Yes, because the ISP according to the RIAA can take a series of escalating sanctions against repeat offenders, ranging from slowing down the subscriber’s network speed to terminating offenders.

Case Study

3.) Lotus v. Borland

1.) Go to your school’s computer lab or PC software store and experiment with current versions of any two of the Quattro, Excel, or Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet programs. Write a brief paragraph summarizing the similarities and differences in the “look and feel” of these two programs.

Ans:
 

One is a spreadsheet program made by Lotus the other is a spreadsheet program made by Microsoft.

The main difference is the way in which formulas are entered - in Excel they are preceded by the = symbol and in 1-2-3 they are preceded by the + symbol.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_of_Microsoft_Excel_from_lotus_123#ixzz1v2XbGol3

2.) The courts took several years to reverse their initial decision and rule in favor of Borland. What impact did this delay have on the software industry? How might things have been different if Borland had receive an initial favorable ruling?

Ans:

Borland appealed the decision of the district court. It argued that the menu hierarchy is a "method of operation," which is not copyrightable according to 17 U.S.C. § 102(b).The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed the district court's decision, agreeing with Borland's legal theory that considered the menu hierarchy a "method of operation." The court agreed with the district court that an alternative menu hierarchy could be devised, but argued that despite this, the menu hierarchy is an uncopyrightable "method of operation." The court made an analogy between the menu hierarchy and the arrangement of buttons on a VCR. The buttons are used to control the playback of a video tape, just as the menu commands are used to control the operations of Lotus 1-2-3. Since the buttons are essential to operating the VCR, their layout cannot be copyrighted. Likewise, the menu commands, including the textual labels and the hierarchical layout, are essential to operating Lotus 1-2-3.. The court also considered the impact of their decision on users of software. If menu hierarchies were copyrightable, users would be required to learn how to perform the same operation in a different way for every program, which the court finds "absurd." Additionally, all macros would have to be re-written for each different program, which places an undue burden on users.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Dev._Corp._v._Borland_Int%27l,_Inc.

3.) Assume that you are the manager of Borland’s software development. With the benefit of hindsight, What different decisions would you have made about?

Ans:

If I am the manager of Borland's software development. I wouldn't do a copyright infringement to any product of others own. To avoid illegal works.