Week 7 - Intellectual Property, Software Protection and Limiting Liability

Question 1

Intellectual property (IP)

Answer 1

A unique product of human intellect that has commercial value.
Value of intellectual property is more valuable than the product as it is harder to make the first copy of something than to recreate it afterwards.

Question 2

Natural right

Answer 2

The right to own property.

Question 3

What happens when you “steal” intellectual property

Answer 3

You do not stop the owner from using it but you steal the revenue from it.

Question 4

Intellectual property rights (IPR)

Answer 4

The name given to legal rights that protect creative works, inventions, intangible assets of a business.
IPR includes copyright, patents, law of confidence, design rights and trademarks.

Question 5

Copyright

Answer 5

Protects the expression of an idea but not the idea itself.
Extends to literary, artistic and musical works.

Question 6

Patents

Answer 6

• Protects against independent development of something based on the same idea.
• Gives the owner the exclusive right of an invention for up to 20 mins.
• Patents are not granted automatically and have a long and expensive application process.
• To get a patent, inventions must be new, involve an innovative step, be capable of industrial application and be fully disclosed.
• Patent law is written assuming a human inventor e.g., genes cannot be patented.

Question 7

Law of confidence

Answer 7

Protects confidential information by making it an offense to reveal it.
To inform someone in confidence can be done through a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

Question 8

Design right

Answer 8

Protects the appearance of an original product.

Question 9

Trademark

Answer 9

A sign that shows that a good/service belongs to you. Allows you to take legal action if someone tries to copy the good/service.

Question 10

Costs of granting/not granting IPR to AI

Answer 10

Costs of granting IPR:
- Issues related to who is responsible for the idea.
- Not compatible with the patent system.
Costs of not granting IPR:
- Companies cannot profit from inventions by AI which reduces incentive to innovate.

Question 11

How is the issue of AI being/ not being granted IPR being approached

Answer 11

AI is not being granted IPR but AI-IP is being created to make new laws specific to AI generated inventions rather than modifying existing IPR law.

Question 12

Piracy

Answer 12

The act of unfairly trading on a persons creation.
Online piracy definition replaces the word “trading” with “downloading”.

Question 13

How is piracy being combatted?

Answer 13

• Digital Rights Management (DRM): stopping multiple people using using a product when only one should be using it.
• Digital Economy Act 2017: modifies the copyright act to increase max jail time for piracy to 10 years.

Question 14

Arguments against copying software

Answer 14

• reduces software purchases
• less income for software producers
• lower production of new software
  This leads to fewer benefits to society from software.

Question 15

Free software movement

Answer 15

• Freedom to:
  − run programs for any purpose
  − study and adapt programs
  − redistribute
  − improve and release improvements.
• Open source runs on the idea that software is developed in return for credit rather than money.
• Credit allows devs to enhance reputation and makes it easier to get grants.

Question 16

Shareware

Answer 16

• Idea that programs should be able to be obtained for free and if you like it you can pay the developer a reward.
• If you need the software, you will pay the developer to help keep it running.

Question 17

What copyright covers computer science

Answer 17

• Software copyright is now covered by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) but previously only source code was covered.
• CDPA covers software, prep design materials like flowcharts and databases as long as they are original and recorded.

Question 18

What does CDPA restrict

Answer 18

• copying of work
• issuing copies of work to the public
• making adaptation of work
• CDPA is infringed if a restricted act is performed without permission of the copyright owner.
  There are a few exceptions for backup and decompilation.

Question 19

How does the CDPA cover authorship and ownership

Answer 19

• CDPA distinguishes between work generated by a human author and computer-generated works.
• the owner of copyright in a work is the author of the work
• the author of computer-generated work is the person who made the necessary arrangements which allowed for creation of the work.

Question 20

Product liability

Answer 20

• Consumer Protection Act 1987 (CPA) imposes a liability on the producer of a defective product.
• CPA applies to hardware but not software. Hardware is a product so is protected by CPA but software is a service so is not.

Question 21

Contractual liability

Answer 21

• Supply of Goods and Services Act (SGSA) 1982 covers software written for a client under a contract (licence agreement).
• SGSA binds software supplier to provide a service with reasonable care.

Question 22

Negligence (personal liability)

Answer 22

• Imposes liability on a person who has acted carelessly under common law.
• Liability for negligence in software development can be significant e.g., in the case of a health-system failure, security system malfunction etc.

Question 23

Qualities of a good steward when leading development of large systems for society

Answer 23

• Establishing policies for fair system access
• Monitoring the level of integration of a system
• Monitoring how society uses a system
• Developing appropriate standards of care if they do not exist

Question 24

What is considered negligent

Answer 24

• Sharing personal data.
• Flaw in algorithms/ service provided.
• Voicing personal opinions on social media platforms.

Question 25

How to limit liability

Answer 25

- For a product/service. − specify a warranty period. − specify an appropriate use. − specify a maximum reasonable liability. − get liability insurance. - For you − Ensure you follow employers standards and guidelines. − Ensure thorough and rigorous testing.