| Term Paper Title | The Next Virtual Battleground In Cyberspace |
| # of Words | 1260 |
| # of Pages (250 words per page double spaced) | 5.04 |
The Next Virtual Battleground in Cyberspace
MiniPaper # 2
The original idea behind the Internet was to transmit information freely around the world. Now individuals want to put copyright protected materials on it, but no legal mechanisms are in place to protect these materials and no boundaries have been defined to control them.
The role of copyright regulation within the Net is brewing to be a political and economic battlefield (Barlow, 1996). As the virtual world witnesses an influx of mainstream users (from individuals to corporations), governments and businesses are racing to clear the way for a virtual marketplace by imposing rules and controlling the flow of information. Lawmakers are currently considering legislation to apply copyrights to all digital transmissions to enhance the sell and distribution of products like movies, compact disks, books, and magazines on-line. But what effect will this have on the Net community?
Practically every company must protect their intellectual property (i.e., intangible property created by individuals or corporations which is subject to protection under the trade secret, copyright, and patent law). Most of this protection comes from copyrights, which grants the owners of the expression of an idea the right to prevent anyone from making copies of it, distributing it, or performing it without permission (Laundon, 1996). This applies to software, brochures, videos, blueprints and much more. But the traditional concept of copyright falls short when it comes in contact with the Internet, where anyone with a modem can be a broadcaster and a viewer. Control in the cyberspace arena will not be an easy task.
Much of the current debate about electronic copyright stems from the interpretation of the exclusive right of owners to electronic media. The law, under the "fair use" exception, allows copies to be made without payment or permission under certain conditions; copying for the purpose of research, teaching, journalism, criticism, parody and library activities (by the way, all information gathered or copied in support of this assignment was obtained under the "fair use" provision J). The problem is where to draw the line that would allow protection of intellectual property, but also easy public access to electronic media (Okerson, 1996).
Until formal legislation addresses this problem, information systems managers and their companies need to address two types of intellectual property theft. First, they'll need to stop employees from using the Internet, Web or Intranets to illegally distribute copyrighted information created by other companies. Under current rules, Internet providers are liable for knowingly and/or unknowingly disseminating unauthorized copyrighted materials. As an example, Netcom Online Communication Services Inc. was tried and found liable for contributory infringement after it failed to remove copyrighted materials that had been placed on one of its servers (Chabrow, 1996). One way to prevent this is by educating the employees on the rules and regulation that are applicable to the transfer of information. Four common fallacies concerning Internet use should be clarified (Muth, 1996):
1) Only marked "Copyright" information is copyright protected. There is no longer a requirement that copyrighted works need to have a copyright notice. If a private party created an article, image, recording, or software, then that item is copyrighted.
2) Since making copies of software, images and text on the Internet is so simple, people believe that copying this is legal. Copyright laws have never said that easy copying eliminates the author's rights. The law does recognize some situations where private, non-commercial copying may be permitted, as discussed previously under the "fair use" exception. But commercial use and distribution of this material is illegal.
3) My business cannot be liable for the personal copying done by my employees. When businesses provide access to the Internet to its employees, it becomes potentially liable for...Read entire document
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