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Intellectual Property News
Users May Be Unaware Of Threats From Filesharing Programs
The Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has released a report that concludes that the distributors of five popular filesharing programs repeatedly deployed features that they knew or should have known could cause users to share files inadvertently. The report, Filesharing Programs and “Technological Features to Induce Users to Share,” identifies five features in recent versions of five popular filesharing programs that could cause users to inadvertently distribute to others downloaded files or their own proprietary or sensitive files.
“Computer programs that can cause unintended filesharing contribute to copyright infringement, and they threaten the security of personal, corporate, and governmental data,” noted Jon Dudas, under secretary of commerce for intellectual property—the Bush Administration’s point person on copyright policy.
The report shows that distributors of filesharing programs deployed features that could cause inadvertent sharing even after repeated warnings that these features could facilitate identity theft and breaches of personal and national security. For example, in 2003, two Congressional hearings were prompted by research indicating inadvertent sharing could be caused by search-wizard and share-folder features. After the hearings, many distributors adopted a Code of Conduct that prohibited use of these features. Nevertheless, in 2004 and 2005, many of these same distributors kept deploying more aggressive versions of search-wizard or share-folder features. Many distributors also deployed other features, like partial-uninstall and coerced-sharing features, that also had a known or obvious potential to cause inadvertent sharing. Read more at uspto.gov.
Gatt sets a standard of norms to follow.
All GATT member-countries calls for rewriting their national laws to conform to internationally agreed standards for protecting patents, copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs, and trade secrets.
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Definition:
This is a contractual agreement from a copyright owner or the owner's authorized agent, such as a third party vendor, allowing another party to exercise one or more of the exclusive rights provided the copyright owner under the Copyright Law (See FAQ Section 2.1.5).
Permission
Definition:
This is an agreement from a copyright owner allowing another party to exercise one or more of the exclusive rights provided the copyright owner under the Copyright Law (See FAQ Section 2.1.5. Permission generally does not involve the transfer of any fees or reimbursements. Permission may also be referred to as a Copyright Release.
Infringement of copyright
Definition:
Can pertain to US CODE TITLE 17, CHAPTER 5 Sec. 501. - Infringement of copyright see the law, example: The legal or beneficial owner of an exclusive right under a copyright is entitled rights
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