Study Guide: Legal and Ethical Aspects of the Internet
Protection of Intellectual Property
The major legal and ethical problems that arise in terms of the Internet and electronic media deal with intellectual property issues. There are well developed laws that govern physical property. Physical property, also known as tangible property, is property that we can touch and feel. Intellectual property, on the other hand, deals with the ownership of ideas or the expression of ideas. Since ideas cannot be touched or felt, but they do belong to the person who developed (or authored) them, they are known as intangible property.
There are several forms of legal protection available for intellectual property. These are:
- trade secret protection
- copyright protection
1.1 Trade Secret Protection: This method of protecting ownership of an idea is to ensure that the idea is kept a secret. An example is the formula used in preparing Coca Cola syrup. Very few employees know the formula, and those who do are required to sign nondisclosure agreements in order to have access to it. The formula is safe as long as no employee divulges the secret. The company could take them to court if they did so. Another example of a trade secret may be a company’s business plan or strategy.
Trade secrets can only exist if the basis for the idea can be kept a secret. This may not be possible in the world of computer technology and programming.
Copyright Protection
Copyright protection is available for an original expression of an idea that is fixed in any physical medium, such as paper, electronic tapes, floppy discs, CD ROMs, etc. It is important to note that the "right" or protection is given to how the idea is expressed, not to the idea itself.
To illustrate this, consider two songs, one by Britney Spears, and another by the Backstreet Boys, both of which deal with the idea of love, but express the idea in different ways. Each can copyright the way they express their idea of love in their songs. They cannot copyright the idea of love itself.
Works such as books, music, computer programs, source and object codes, etc. can be protected by copyright. In addition to the actual code of a program, copyright can extend to the screen layout and graphics of the program. Copyright extends to both published and unpublished material.
Copyright Issues Involving Domain Names
A domain name is the name or address used to link to a particular computer on the Internet. An example of a domain name is www.nbc.com. The name is segmented into several levels. In the example given, the top level domain (com) is on the right, the designation of the specific computer is indicated on the left (www), and the subdomain (nbc) is indicated between these two. (Turban et al. 2000, p.506). Domain names can be selected by the person seeking an address, and need to be registered with the appropriate registering body.
Disputes have arisen over domain names because some companies have used names similar to those of brick-and-mortar companies or copyrighted names or materials, in order to attract web traffic to their site. Some individuals have also registered large numbers of such names, not for their use, but with the intention of selling these names to the highest bidder. As a result, sometimes a company with a well known brand name has applied to establish a web address and found that the name has already been registered by someone else who now asks for substantial payment for purchase of the domain name.
In such disputes, the party claiming the right to a domain name (the complainant) bases such claims on its existing copyright or trademark rights. Such claims are usually valid if the party can show that the defendants use of the copyrighted mark is creating confusion in the minds of the public, or that it will dilute the impact of a famous brand name. For example, if domain names were different versions of Coca Cola, such as Koka Kola, Kola Koke, etc, Coca Cola could claim that such use was creating confusion in people’s minds about the producer of the product bearing such names, and would also "dilute" or diminish the value of the Coca Cola brand name.
The general rule for determining domain name disputes is to compare the following (Greenstein, 2000):
The date the registered applicant of the domain name first used the domain name OR the effective date of a validating trademark registration; and
The date the claimant of a dispute first used a trademark OR the effective date of the claimant’s validated registration.
