technology Law - Research themes Open source Copyright Patenting Net gambling

TECHNOLOGY LAW Courses: Law in the information society / advanced computer law (4 op) - jatkokurssi Legal Aspects of Service Management (3 op) Tietotekniikkaoikeuden seminaari (3 op) Personally tailored content also possible Kandi, Dippa, Ph.D.

AVOIMEN LÄHDEKOODIN oikeudelliset riskit

Patents, model right, trademark, copyright

Trademark: few points Color Oy Karl Fazer Ab: Pantone 280C Voice Nokia: 3D Nokia: Even a smell

Model right - examples

MARTELA

RAPALA

MATKAHUOLTO

ESIMERKKI: MANNERHEIMIN LASTENSUOJELULIITON HÄMEEN PIIRIN KOTINEUVOLA OY

VAASAN & VAASAN OY

ESIMERKKI: ALTIA

000217054-0009 000329560-0006

Nokia Corporation Wrapping 09.03

Nokia Corporation 000931993-0003

Nokia Corporation Graphical user interfaces 14.04

Nokia Corporation Logos, Graphic symbols

Apple Inc. Graphical user interfaces

Aladdins ApS Graphical user interfaces

Law, Software & Society

Contradictions... One trend open information distribution (Linux, open source, open Internet): content freely distributed and access is not restricted technically Another trend is strict control (copy protections, fee-based databases, IPR enforcement): new restriction technology gives almost unlimited possibilities to control the flow and use of information

Who sets the rules? Value-based approach: which side do you choose? Freedom of information v. ownership of property Market power v. state control Hackers v. industry Is value-neutral approach possible at all?

Economic arguments... No single argumentation model Market decides - as little regulation as possible, freedom of enterprise / Must monitor that monopolies do not distort free competition Maximize license income and enforcement / Maximize the size of the ecosystem Laws develop towards efficiency from the perspective of the whole society / Laws are created in a zero-sum lobbying process

Some ideas... Distribution of power We must avoid power concentration to corporation and states; the free markets must be enforced with competition policy as the last tool Freedom of information Internet s end-to-end operating model means that we must enforce the free flow of information with fundamental rights as the last tool

Free software utopia

Users will no longer be at the mercy of one programmer or company which owns the sources and is in sole position to make changes... the overhead of considering who owns the system software and what one is or is not entitled to do with it will be lifted. Richard Stallman: GNU Manifesto 1983

Is software peoples affair?

Open source blends to biz After introduction in 1998 open source has been blended by major businesses Many models: from pure open source to mixed source etc. Firms continue to find and execute control points where they can derive value: considering who owns what is as important as ever

What happened?

Business at risk...

"Linux is a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches... The way the license is written, if you use any open-source software, you have to make the rest of your software open source" Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO 2001

Reiteration

Some day, for all countries that are entering WTO, somebody will come and look for money to pay for the patent rights for that intellectual property. Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO 18.11.2004

Ballmer said Microsoft was motivated to sign a deal with SUSE Linux distributor Novell earlier this month because Linux 'uses our intellectual property' and Microsoft wanted to 'get the appropriate economic return for our shareholders from our innovation Steve Ballmer 17.11.2006

Ballmer said Microsoft was motivated to sign a deal with SUSE Linux distributor Novell earlier this month because Linux 'uses our intellectual property' and Microsoft wanted to 'get the appropriate economic return for our shareholders from our innovation Steve Ballmer 17.11.2006 From cancer-talk to business as usual

1. Copyright

For normal business Copyright is a sales tool: it is meant for licensing works to others and curb piracy Not useful for affecting the behavior of outsiders like competitors and developers They do not usually copy, distribute or modify the code as such

2. Patents

European patent office grants more and more patents

Patent EP0927945 Method and system for placing a purchase order via a communications network whose first claim goes: A method in a computer system for ordering a gift for delivery from a gift giver to a recipient, the method comprising: receiving from the gift giver an indication that the gift is to be delivered to the recipient and an electronic mail address of the recipient; and sending to a gift delivery computer system an indication of the gift and the received electronic mail address, wherein the gift delivery computer system coordinates delivery of the gift by sending an electronic mail message addressed to the electronic mail address of the recipient requesting that the recipient provide delivery information including a postal address for the gift; and upon receiving the delivery information, electronically initiating delivery of the gift in accordance with the received delivery information. Granted to Amazon.com

For strategic use Not a sales machine: licensing markets for software patents do not really function Patents can however be used to influence the behavior of others Patents cover any kind of commercial use of the abstract invention Patent infringement is possible without actual knowledge

Patents in the US

3. Security

Can we ever fully trust whoever is on the other end of our computer connections?... A new industry alliance has formed to address the technology issues at the root of these fears. Oct. 11 marked the birth of the Trusted Computing Platform Alliance (TCPA), which will focus on improving trust and security on various computing platforms. Microsoft, Intel, IBM, Compaq and Hewleft-Packard are founding members, and more companies are expected to join in the coming months. Current news, 1999

The Trusted Computing Group (TCG) is a not-forprofit organization formed to develop, define, and promote open standards for hardware-enabled trusted computing and security technologies, including hardware building blocks and software interfaces, across multiple platforms, peripherals, and devices.... will enable more secure computing environments without compromising functional integrity, privacy, or individual rights. trustedcomputinggroup.com

What does "security" mean in that context? Security of the user against malicious code? Security of big media against people copying music and videos? Security of software vendors against competition? Bruce Schneier

Answer: it depends Good uses: the user can choose whether to trust certain developer or not and the developer can choose whether to trust certain user or not Makes sense if the idea is to tackle security holes, piracy etc. However, free software enthusiasts have feared that the industry alliance might decide certain unauthorized software may not run on certain software platform or hardware; ultimately, the power is in the hands of corporations

Surveillance scenario

Who defends developers today?

1. Government?

Real problem: patents Microsoft considers that the software source code developed by recipients of the interoperability information that implements the Microsoft protocols should not be published under a so-called open source licence. The Commission nevertheless considers that, if the Court of First Instance rules in favour of the Commission in the pending application for annulment filed by Microsoft (case T-201/04), this should be possible for the protocols that do not embody innovations.

I know in our industry that type of reverse engineering is prevented - Bill Gates, in a 1994 court case when asked if GM could buy a japanese car and put it into pieces to learn something

2. Self-defense

TiVo users want access to the free software components for all sorts of reasons. They want to install bigger hard drives. They want to access their shows via other devices (for instance, copy small versions to portable video devices to take them on the road). And they want to build their own Personal Video Recorder software. All of these can be done without affecting TiVo's proprietary software at all. FSF GPLv3 update

3. No Denying Users' Rights through Technical Measures. Regardless of any other provision of this License, no permission is given for modes of conveying that deny users that run covered works the full exercise of the legal rights granted by this License. No covered work constitutes part of an effective technological "protection" measure under section 1201 of Title 17 of the United States Code. When you convey a covered work, you waive any legal power to forbid circumvention of technical measures that include use of the covered work, and you disclaim any intention to limit operation or modification of the work as a means of enforcing the legal rights of third parties against the work's users.

11. Patents. You receive the Program with a covenant from each author and conveyor of the Program, and of any material, conveyed under this License, on which the Program is based, that the covenanting party will not assert (or cause others to assert) any of the party's essential patent claims in the material that the party conveyed, against you, arising from your exercise of rights under this License. If you convey a covered work, you similarly covenant to all recipients, including recipients of works based on the covered work, not to assert any of your essential patent claims in the covered work. If you convey a covered work, knowingly relying on a non-sublicensable patent license that is not generally available to all, you must either (1) act to shield downstream users against the possible patent infringement claims from which your license protects you, or (2) ensure that anyone can copy the Corresponding Source of the covered work, free of charge and under the terms of this License, through a publicly available network server or other readily accessible means.

You choose! There has been a rise and fall in developer control in software development Copyright protected authors = programmers Patents and security protect corporate interests Government intervention is slow and weak Thus, self-defense is the strongest bet to balance increasing corporate control; its usefulness depends mainly on the adoption of freely licensed software, content etc.