NCJ Number
143642
Journal
Jurimetrics Volume: 33 Issue: 3 Dated: (Spring 1993) Pages: 377-385
Date Published
1993
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article examines the implications of computer software copyright laws for computer networks and proposes a model for software vender revenue generation for a user network.
Abstract
It has been established that computer programs are copyrighted works and that the unauthorized duplication and distribution of computer software programs is an infringement of copyright. Copyright law is unclear about its application to the downloading of the software program from a "server" onto a "client" terminal. Also, networks are veritable engines for the creation and distribution of unauthorized copies of software. Some have proposed that software vendors secure adequate revenues through a licensing of users that involves counting the number of copies. This article argues that it is too easy to make and use unauthorized copies for this mechanism to be effective. In fact, technological improvement in networking is designed in part to facilitate the making and use of software copies over the widest possible areas. Legal means of controlling software use are bound to fail if they are at odds with the inherent capabilities of the technology. A pricing mechanism that does not interfere with the use of the technology is more likely to be accepted. The revenue-generation model recommended by the author would have operating systems that monitor the usage of particular software programs, store the information in memory, and report it to the network upon log on or log off. The proprietor of the network would be billed by the software vendor for the amount of usage of each program much in the same way that telephone bills reflect the amount of telephone usage.