The document discusses the legal protections available for computer software, including patents, copyrights, and trade secrets. It highlights the implications of proprietary software and the importance of licensing, as well as the potential for vendor lock-in. Additionally, it touches on the release of source code by companies in response to community demand and the distinction between commercial and proprietary software.
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The document discusses the legal protections available for computer software, including patents, copyrights, and trade secrets. It highlights the implications of proprietary software and the importance of licensing, as well as the potential for vendor lock-in. Additionally, it touches on the release of source code by companies in response to community demand and the distinction between commercial and proprietary software.
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GIF image compression algorithm) without permission, or may prevent others from
creating software programs that perform a function in a certain way. In connection
with computer software, copyright law can be used to prevent the total duplication of a software program, as well as the copying of a portion of software code. Donovan, S. (1994). "Patent, copyright and trade secret protection for software". IEEE Potentials. 13 (3): 20. doi:10.1109/45.310923. S2CID 19873766. Essentially there are only three ways to protect computer software under the law: patent it, register a copyright for it, or keep it as a trade secret. Eben Moglen (2005-02-12). "Why the FSF gets copyright assignments from contributors". Retrieved 2017-05-01. Under US copyright law, which is the law under which most free software programs have historically been first published, [...] only the copyright holder or someone having assignment of the copyright can enforce the license. White, Aoife (2012-07-03). "Oracle Can't Stop Software License Resales, EU Court Says". Bloomberg. Microsoft Corporation (2005-04-01). "End-User License Agreement for Microsoft Software: Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition Service Pack 2" (PDF). Microsoft. p. Page 3. Retrieved 2009-04-29. Microsoft Corporation (2005-04-01). "End-User License Agreement for Microsoft Software: Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition Service Pack 2" (PDF). Microsoft. p. Page 1. Retrieved 2009-04-29. You may install, use, access, display and run one copy of the Software on a single computer, such as a workstation, terminal or another device ("Workstation Computer"). The Software may not be used by more than two (2) processors at any one time on any single Workstation Computer. ... You may permit a maximum of ten (10) computers or other electronic devices (each a 'Device') to connect to the Workstation Computer to utilize one or more of the following services of the Software: File Services, Print Services, Internet Information Services, Internet Connection Sharing and telephony services. Adobe Systems, Adobe Software License Agreement (PDF), retrieved 2010-06-09 Parker, Jason (January 27, 2009). "Apple iWork '09 review: Apple iWork '09". CNET. Retrieved May 2, 2022. Heffan, Ira V. (1997). "Copyleft: Licensing Collaborative Works in the Digital Age" (PDF). Stanford Law Review. 49 (6): 1490. doi:10.2307/1229351. JSTOR 1229351. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-05-14. Retrieved 2009-07-27. Under the proprietary software model, most software developers withhold their source code from users. David A. Wheeler (2009-02-03). "Free-Libre / Open Source Software (FLOSS) is Commercial Software". Retrieved 2009-06-03. "Distribution of IBM Licensed Programs and Licensed Program Materials and Modified Agreement for IBM Licensed Programs". Announcement Letters. IBM. February 8, 1983. 283-016. Greg Mushial (July 20, 1983), "Module 24: SLAC Enhancements to and Beautifications of the IBM H-Level Assembler for Version 2.8", SLAC VM NOTEBOOK, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Shankland, Stephen (January 30, 2003). "Governments to see Windows code". CNET. Retrieved May 2, 2022. Gao, Ken (February 28, 2003). "China to view Windows code". CNET. Retrieved May 2, 2022. James Ball, Julian Borger and Glenn Greenwald (2013-09-06). "US and UK spy agencies defeat privacy and security on the internet". The Guardian. Bruce Schneier (2013-09-06). "How to remain secure against NSA surveillance". The Guardian. Jacob, Matthias; Boneh, Dan; Felten, Edward (30 October 2003). "Attacking an Obfuscated Cipher by Injecting Faults". In Feigenbaum, Joan (ed.). Digital Rights Management: ACM CCS-9 Workshop, DRM 2002, Washington, DC, USA, November 18, 2002, Revised Papers. Second International Workshop on Digital Rights Management. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 2696. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 17. ISBN 978- 3-540-44993-5. Retrieved 12 January 2024 � via Internet Archive. Tony Patton (2008-11-21). "Protect your JavaScript with obfuscation". TechRepublic. Archived from the original on March 15, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2022. While the Web promotes the sharing of such code, there are times when you or a client may not want to share their JavaScript code. This may be due to the sensitive nature of data within the code, proprietary calculations, or any other scenario. Orenstein, David (January 10, 2000). "Application Programming Interface". Computerworld. Retrieved May 2, 2022. "Commission Decision of 24.03.2004 relating to a proceeding under Article 82 of the EC Treaty (Case COMP/C-3/37.792 Microsoft)" (PDF). European Commission. March 24, 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 28, 2008. Retrieved June 17, 2009. Wilson, Ben (2008-10-01). "Apple Drops NDA for Released iPhone Software". CNET. Archived from the original on 2013-03-08. Retrieved 2022-05-02. The Linux Information Project (2006-04-29). "Vendor Lock-in Definition". Retrieved 2009-06-11. Vendor lock-in, or just lock-in, is the situation in which customers are dependent on a single manufacturer or supplier for some product [...] This dependency is typically a result of standards that are controlled by the vendor [...] It can grant the vendor some extent of monopoly power [...] The best way for an organization to avoid becoming a victim of vendor lock-in is to use products that conform to free, industry-wide standards. Free standards are those that can be used by anyone and are not controlled by a single company. In the case of computers, this can usually be accomplished by using free software rather than proprietary software (i.e., commercial software). Don Reisinger (2011-09-29). "Apple wins key battle against Psystar over Mac clones". Retrieved 2022-05-02. "What happens when a proprietary software company dies?". Linux. October 24, 2003. Retrieved May 2, 2022. Livingston, Brian (December 15, 2006). "Microsoft Turns Up The Heat On Windows 2000 Users". CRN. Archived from the original on May 3, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022. Cassia, Fernando (March 28, 2007). "Open Source, the only weapon against 'planned obsolescence'". The Inquirer. Archived from the original on November 22, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2012. Bell, John (October 1, 2009). "Opening the Source of Art". Technology Innovation Management Review. Archived from the original on March 30, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2022. that no further patches to the title would be forthcoming. The community was predictably upset. Instead of giving up on the game, users decided that if Activision wasn't going to fix the bugs, they would. They wanted to save the game by getting Activision to open the source so it could be kept alive beyond the point where Activision lost interest. With some help from members of the development team that were active on fan forums, they were eventually able to convince Activision to release Call to Power II's source code in October of 2003. Wen, Howard (June 10, 2004). "Keeping the Myths Alive". Linux Dev Center. Archived from the original on April 6, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2012. fans of the Myth trilogy have taken this idea a step further: they have official access to the source code for the Myth games. Organized under the name MythDevelopers, this all- volunteer group of programmers, artists, and other talented people devote their time to improving and supporting further development of the Myth game series. Largent, Andy (October 8, 2003). "Homeworld Source Code Released". Inside Mac Games. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013. Retrieved November 24, 2012. With the release of Homeworld 2 for the PC, Relic Entertainment has decided to give back to their impressive fan community by releasing the source code to the original Homeworld. Rosen, Lawrence (2004). Open Source Licensing. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. pp. 52, 255, 259. ISBN 978-0-13-148787-1. Havoc Pennington (2008-03-02). "Debian Tutorial". Archived from the original on 2018-01-29. Retrieved 2009-06-04. It is important to distinguish commercial software from proprietary software. Proprietary software is non-free software, while commercial software is software sold for money. Russell McOrmond (2000-01-04). "What is "Commercial Software"?". Archived from the original on 2012-10-04. Retrieved 2009-05-02. Michael K. Johnson (1996-09-01). "Licenses and Copyright". Retrieved 2009-06-16. If you program for Linux, you do need to understand licensing, no matter if you are writing free software or commercial software. Eric S. Raymond (2003-12-29). "Proprietary, Jargon File". Retrieved 2009-06-12. Proprietary software should be distinguished from commercial software. It is possible for the software to be commercial [...] without being proprietary. The reverse is also possible, for example in binary-only freeware. "Selling Free Software". GNU Project. "The Commercial Software Model". Microsoft. May 2001. Archived from the original on 2007-03-05. Open Source Versus Commercial Software: Why Proprietary Software is Here to Stay. Sams Publishing. October 2005. Retrieved 2022-05-02. External links Media related to Proprietary software at Wikimedia Commons vte Software distribution vte Free and open-source software Categories: Proprietary softwareSoftware licensing This page was last edited on 9 January 2025, at 18:38 (UTC). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 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