Property Rights In Digital Files Flashcards
Is mere information considered property
No
Why is data not mere information
Because they are distinct virtual objects, treated as separate documents by software, they also have abilities beyond mere knowledge
Why might property rights be needed for files
Because files may be hosted in other people’s servers and without property rights there is no legal way to recover them
What rights exist to a letter
The property rights of the paper and the inc, the copy right of the text itself and the information itself aka ideas facts and message is free for anyone to use except maybe when there is an obligation of confidentiality and good equity reasons to restrict the usage
What reasons are there to not regard information as property
It impairs free speech (information is morally non excludable), it is unlike other property and such rights are unnecessary
What are the four criteria that information does not live up to to be considered a property
It should be definable, identifiable by third parties, tradable and have some degree of permanence or stability
What is the condition of separability in property rights
The thing must be transferrable and it should be able to be fully transferred and the previous owner fully deprived of its benefits. It should exist independent of any person
What foes it mean the property has to be rivalrous
That use by one person must inhibit the use by others
Why is property rights unnecessary för information
Because it is already sufficiently protected by contract, confidence and privacy laws
How do files exist in terms of physical infrastructure
As the existence and absences of electrical charges on a transistor stored on a drive on a server
How do files exist in computer logic
As separate encapsulations of code under a title with an extension indicating purpouse
Where are the rights to a file unclear
As a file is not mearly the electrons that makes it up that can be possessed or the code that can be protected by copyright but also exists as a tool or instrument with a specific purpose or n cyberspace. Different code can have the same result after all, can you copyrighting the ux?
Is a digital file rivalrus
No, anyone with a computer can use a file even if you have made it as it can be limitlessly copied and shared
How may a file fail to meet the standards of transferability
When transferred it is created on another device and may or may not be deleted on the first
Is a file destroyed when deleted
No it is merely lost and may be recovered if not overwritten
Is property rights really necessary gor files
Maybe not, as long as personal rights to data such as gdpr will satisfy
Are patents chooses in action
No they have their own separate laws
Can there be a type of property that is not a chose in action or posession
No as chose in action is residual and that there is president for not doing so
Why is a file not a chose in action
Because it does not comprise any legal right yo enforce any law against anyone such as a debt contract would. It does not claim to do so but can you not make it so under law, it is not chose in action because it is not a chose in action else.
Can a file be a choose in possession
No they can not as possession only applies to tangible things that can be subjected to physical control. Files can only be considered practically controlled
Why are files not tangible if they are made up of physical stuff
Because they are not the electrons that make them upp but rather the essence of their composition, different electrons appear in different devices.
What is the argument for files to be treated as posessed
Because they mimic the experience of possession, when handling a file there both exists a cognitive intent to exclude others and a manual element of control
What is required for files to be considered posessed
As the files do not fit the tangibility requirements it is required to change the law in parliament
Why might some digital assets be considered property by court
Because they pass the ainsworth test by being defined, identified, transferred and had a degree of permanence do even if they don’t fit the categorization they still occupy a place among property. This is the case for digital documents like EUAs and cryptocurrencies
What is the tort of conversion
That when a third party interferes with an owners property the owner has the right to redress aka sue for damages or recovery of a thing in possession or restitution of a thing in action
How have disputes regarding giles been resolved in the past
Through looking at contracts between the fuding parties
When might contractual personal rights be insufficient for files
Upon insolvency contractual rights have a weaker claim than property rights right to recover their property. So banks may take your data as ransom or sell it to recover their debt. Secondly in some cases there are no contracts such as with cloud providers
I Is there president for applying the tort of conversion to files
Yes in two cases in new Zealand courts have determined that employees have had the right to recover files stored on work computers the reason being that there was “good policy reasons to extend the tort of conversion to digital assets” due yo them possessing a real value in practice .
How might digital property rights interfere with physical property rights
Because if A has a file on Bs drive it interferes with B right to do what they want with their property
