Legal Issues

Question 1

What is the difference between criminal law and civil law?

Answer 1

Criminal law - state prosecuted, for breaches of the law - e.g. theft

Civil law - no state prosecution, legal disputes between 2 individuals or companies - state provides the courts and judge but does not take sides

Question 2

What is a plaintiff?

Answer 2

Party applying to the court for their case to be heard

Question 3

When was copyright first introduced into law?

Answer 3

The Statute of Anne - 1709

Question 4

What is Intellectual Property?

Answer 4

Intangible creative work - not necessarily a physical form

Monopolistic rights to use the idea

Question 5

What is required for something to be patentable?

Answer 5

The invention is new

It involves an inventive step

It is capable of industrial application

Question 6

In the UK, what might prevent something from being patentable?

Answer 6

It is a discovery, theory or mathematical method

A literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work (any aesthetic creation)

A scheme rule or method for performing a mental act, playing a game or a program or a computer program

The presentation of information

Question 7

What concepts did the statute of Anne introduce?

Answer 7

Author of the work is the owner

Fixed term of protection

Libraries must have a copy

Question 8

What was the Berne convention?

Answer 8

1886

International Copyright Act (but different here to in US)

Question 9

How long does copyright last?

Answer 9

Creators lifetime + 70 years

Question 10

How long does copyright last for computer generated works?

Answer 10

50 years from the creation date

Question 11

What, about databases, can be copyrighted?

For how long?

Answer 11

Selection and arrangement of contents

15 years from creation or 15 years from publication

Question 12

Anyone who copies intellectual property without permission is a ___________

Answer 12

pirate

Question 13

What is a Mareva injunction?

Answer 13

Freezes defendants assets to prevent extraction to a foreign country

Question 14

What is the Anton Piller case precedence?

Answer 14

Plaintiff seeks an ex parte to gain entry to seek evidence to incriminate pirates

don’t have to warn defendants first because they might then remove evidence

Question 15

What is FAST? When was it set up?

Answer 15

Federation Against Software Theft

1984

Question 16

What is the BSA?

What do they do?

Answer 16

Business Software Alliance

Promote a safe and legal digital world - voice of the commercial software industry

Educates consumers on software management and copyright protection

Question 17

Work made by an employee in the course of their employement belongs to _______________

Answer 17

the employer

Question 18

The copyright of comissioned work belongs to ______________ unless ______________

Answer 18

the author unless the comissioner stipulates otherwise in the contract

Question 19

What 3 main powers did the coopyright, etc. and Trade Marks (Offences and Enforcement) act provide?

Answer 19

Increase penalty for copyright theft to 10 years

Strengthen search warrant provisions (i.e. Anton Piller orders)

Give greater powers (i.e. Mareva Injunction)

Question 20

What is the Data Protection Act?

Answer 20

1984 & 1998

Gives individuals right to know what information is on record and challenge it if appropriate

Info must be processed fairly and lawfully, used for limited purposes, used in a way that is adequate, kept for no longer than necessary, etc.

Each organisation must have a designated Data Controller

Question 21

The 1998 Data protection act also gave subjects the right to ?

Answer 21

Prevent processing likely to cause damage and distress

Prevent processing for the purposes of direct marketing

Compensation in the case that damage is caused by processing in violation of the principles of the act

Question 22

Compared to the US, EU and UK laws on data protection are

Answer 22

strict

Question 23

What three offences does the computer misuse act cover?

Answer 23

Unauthorized access - £2000 and/or 6 months prison

Unauthorized access with intent - £unlimited and/or 5 years

Unauthorized modification - £unlimited and/or 5 years

Question 24

What two offences did the police and justice act 2006 review?

Answer 24

Impairing operation of a program or reliability of data

Preventing or hindering access to any program or data

Question 25

Which act created a legal framework for electronic commerce? How?

Answer 25

Electronic Communications Act 2000

Clarified legal status of e signature

Ensured quality of e signature

Question 26

What is project Echelon?

Answer 26

Computer monitoring in USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand.

Many millions of messages a day intercepted and scanned for key words