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Intellectual property and the Internet: 

Intellectual property and the Internet Issues Software: open source vs product for sale Other forms of intellectual property and open access: example of Google Library

Issues: 

Issues Fundamentally: if the free access, OS model is universally accepted, what will be the incentive to Innovate Develop?

Slide3: 

Ease and zero cost of copying of text, music, and video makes it “greased data” and causes loss of ownership The case of Napster: Napster architecture and its legal implications P2P solutions: e.g. Kazaa

Intellectual property (IP) : 

Intellectual property (IP) Copyright: the creator owns the IP for 70 years after his/her death World Intellectual Property Organization Treaty (WIPO) covers software: the source code, look and feel Weak form of protection: does not protect the idea: someone can independently come up with the same idea (eg algorithm – not protected under copyright)

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Patents give a monopoly protection for 17 years Ideas realized in software can be patented (e.g. RSA – just expired) Patent requires that the invention be Useful Novel: state of the art Non-obvious Patent must describe how to do it

Slide6: 

The true idea behind patents is to promote creativity and make business invent in it Patents are often used to “trounce” competition or generate income (RIM case) There is some controversy about the growing importance of patents

Johnson analysis (Ch. 13): 

Johnson analysis (Ch. 13) Why is copying software wrong (morally)? Analysis of reasons as to why it might be right: it deprives the owner of the copyright of the income due to them the “bad law” argument: she rejects it as in her analysis the laws are not bad in that they promote broader social goals (see above)

Stallman analysis: 

Stallman analysis Main proponent of Open Software Finds that the current system is based on maximizing the developer’s profits, at the expense of the broader benefits to the society Compares the harm and benefit of sharing software for free Starts with the toll road analogy (do we agree?)

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Programs are different from other, physical goods: for those, paying for them is a disincentive to use land, resources, and labour – all needed to make a copy of a physical object Copying software is practically free Ownership of a program makes fewer people use it: therefore distributing software free would make The efficiency: total user satisfaction per hour of work increases in free distribution

Slide10: 

denying someone the use of what you have is divisive (but how about the Johnson swimming pool analogy?) Inability to modify programs in the ownership model: leads to degradation of self-reliance of users of computer systems: consequences for quality, esp. in computer security Obstruction in software development: detrimental to software quality

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How does he then propose to pay for software development? Partially, people will do it for fun Partially, they will make money on maintenance, training, and add-ons for specialized users (eg business users) software developed in universities should be freely available (it is developed on public grants) Also the Open Software Foundation model (small distribution-related fees, user donations, industry donations): users feel morally inclined to support

Slide12: 

Fewer programmers? Yes, but higher productivity: Open source Adaptation of existing programs Less duplication effort Users of the software re as important as the authors

Linux as an example of Open Source software (See “The cathedral and the Bazaar” by Eric Raymond): 

Linux as an example of Open Source software (See “The cathedral and the Bazaar” by Eric Raymond) The story started with Unix, developed by Ken Thompson at Bell Labs on his own time when Bell Labs dropped Multics (the first multi-tasking OS) Originally Unix (developed in C, another Bell Labs off-shoot) was distributed freely, and then split into BSD (free out of UC Berkley) and AT&T Unix

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In 1991 Linus Thorvalds at U Helsinki started the development of a kernel of Unix for PCs: multitasking, memory mgmt, device drivers Lots of critical Linux software came from GNU (GNU is not Unix) project at the Open Software Foundation (Richard Stallman) Version 1.0 released in Mar. 1994 Since then a new release every 3 years

Slide15: 

The Linux operating-system kernel is the result of ideas contributed by programmers worldwide. A team of kernel developers sifts through thousands of E-mail submissions for the best code and forwards those selections to Torvalds and fellow kernel-maintainer Andrew Morton, who have the final say on what's included in each release of the kernel.

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Kernel = 500, 000 lines of code over 1000 people submit patches, bug fixes, etc. and has had over 200 individuals directly contribute code to the kernel. Internet a crucial factor in the development

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Source code is open (publicly available) at www.linux.org Multitasking, multiuser Variety of hardware platforms Copyright licence allows modifications to be made and distributed Snowball effect: lost of small changes -> rapid development speed ->more users -> more small changes Bug fixes and device drivers: ethernet cards, IDE controllers, motherboards, cameras, printers, players, etc etc

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Accompanying software: OpenOffice, mySQL, KDE, Gnome, Apache – all Open Source Also Netscape went open source -> Mozilla, Thunderbird, etc. Distribution by many companies for a small fee: Red Hat, Mangrove, SuSE, Debian. RESISTANT TO VIRUSES meant for MS software Hope for developing world

How does Microsoft react to the OS phenomenon?: 

How does Microsoft react to the OS phenomenon? The Halloween Memo of 1998: to understand how to compete against OSS, we must target a process rather than a company. {The real battle isn't NT vs. Linux, or Microsoft vs. Red Hat/Caldera/S.u.S.E. -- it's closed-source development versus open-source. The cathedral versus the bazaar}

Wikis: 

Wikis A wiki allows a group of people to enter and communally edit bits of text. These bits of text can be viewed and edited by anyone who visits the wiki. For instance, Wikipedia: world’s largest encyclopedia www.wikipedia.org

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Anyone is welcome to add an new entry or make a new one all-recent-changes page watched by hundreds of people, and another page proposing "Articles for Deletion." Regular users set up watch lists for Wikipedia articles they care about, so they are notified immediately of new edits. The court of last resort to resolve fraught issues is a benign emperor, Jimmy Wales.

Slide22: 

nurturing and shaping of trust, instead building everything around distrust. Wales observes that most social software systems are designed around expected problems: "If you prevent people from doing bad things, you prevent them from doing good things, and it eliminates opportunities for trust."