Intellectual Property

The term “Intellectual property” is a fairly modern concept which was not used until the 19th century, but many of its basic legal principles have evolved over centuries. The British statute of “Anne” from 1710 and the statute of "Monopolies" from 1623 are seen as the origins of copyright and patent laws.

Intellectual property (IP) concerns the patents or copyrights to audio, pictures, films and the written word. This means that software, music, movies, books, video games and other forms of media are considered intellectual property and they are thereby protected accordingly.

 

Over the past few years there has been many discussions regarding file sharing when it comes to movies and music. File sharing is illegal when the movies and music that are shared are protected by copyright. Several Internet services have been shut down after engaging in illegal file sharing, one example is Napster in 2001.

Jon Lech Johansen has developed a graphical user interface to DeCSS that avoids the copy protection on DVD discs, which make it possible to copy them. In Norway he is known as DVD-Jon. He has faced charges on several occasions regarding this invention, but he has never been found guilt. He has in recent years launched a new program, QTFairUse, which unlocks Apple's iTunes AAC files.

DVD Jon is known for his work with unlocking DVDs, and he is still working within this area based on his personal belief that digital products should be used without embedded locks from the companies.
Together with Monique Farantoz he started the company “DoubleTwist Corporation”, and they have developed a file-sharing program called "double twist" with regard to legal file sharing between computers.

To conclude I will refer to 10 pitfalls that technology entrepreneurs often encounter when working with Intellectual property:

1. Introducing the original thoughts behind an idea or a technology is not the same as owning the rights to it.
 
2. Not securing the rights from partners and consultants.
 
3. To disclose patentable inventions to early.
 
4. Initiate marketing before the IP is protected
 
5. Agreeing on a joint ownership or a cross-licensing agreement without possessing custom contract-regulations.
 
6. Involving a third IP in the product without the correct licenses and overview.
 
7. Focusing on only one type of IP protection.
 
8. To assume that the licensor actually owns the rights he sells without actually checking.

9. To not have enough knowledge of which IP model that best fits your business.

10. Poor use of resources and follow-up.

Data Retention Directive

In 2006 EU adopted a directive about storage of data traffic. Directive 2006/24/EC , also known as the Data Retention Directive (DRD), was adopted as a reaction to several major terrorist attacks in recent years, amongst others the one in New York on 11^th September 2001, in Madrid on 11^th March 2004 and in London on 7^th July 2005. The purpose of the new directive is to stop terrorism and serious crime.

Who must implement the new directive?
Anyone who is a member of the EU are obligated to implement the directive, however since it was put into force on 09/15/2007, the members were allowed to postpone the changes till 03/15/2009. Several countries, including Sweden, have been condemned for not introducing the directive by the deadline. They have now decided to postpone the directive for another year, which could result in substantial fines for the country.
As Norway is not a member of the EU, the rules that apply for us are slightly different. We are a member of the EEA and the directive is considered to be EEA-relevant, however the directive has not been incorporated into the EEA agreement yet.

Which info is being stored and for how long?
The rules today limits the companies in Norway to only store data needed to charge you as a customer and the data can only be stored for 3-5 months. All other data is deleted immediately, however this is not the case with the new directive.
With the new directive certain data could be stored for 6-24 months. In Norway the proposed amount of time for storage is 12 months.
The data that will be stored includes most electronic communication tools, such as e-mail, landline, mobile phones and internet phones. The information which will be stored is the name and address, and the telephone number or IP address of all communicating parties. The time of when the communication took place, the duration of the communication, and the exact area of where the parties were located during communication must be recorded.

Who will have access to the data?
It is the companies that offer a specific service that have the responsibility to store and save data. The information collected will generally only be available to the police and the FSA, but they must have an approval from a court before the retrieve any data. For the police to receive data from the traffic there must be suspicion of crime with a penalty of minimum four years, and to receive data concerning specific locations there must be a charge of minimum five years.
Individuals may also access parts of the data and logs as part of civil lawsuits, but it would only be information (in relation to subscriptions) such as names linked to certain email addresses or IP addresses. One will not be able to access any information concerning other individuals.

What about privacy?
The Consumers Council fears that the Data Retention Directive will threaten peoples’ privacy. They believe that this collection and storage of such massive amounts of information about consumers’ behavior increases the risk that someone may try to abuse the information.
Another opinion is stated by Hordaland Arbeiderparti (Hordaland Labour party) who considers the DRD a positive change and improvement to peoples’ privacy. They have stated that "Privacy is about the very basic safety each and every one of us have when it comes to the possibility of whether one is exposed to crime, and the chance the police has to resolve the issue."
Concerns have been raise on whether the directive is in conflict with the European Convention on Human Rights Article 8 or not, which deals with the individual’s right to privacy, specifically that any intervention to private life should be considered in relation to the issue. The case however has not yet been discussed in the European Court of Human Rights.

Who voted for and against the DRD in Norway?
Just before new years the largest party of the government, Arbeiderpartiet (labour party), decided to vote for the new changes and implementing the DRD. Høyre,the Conservative Party's parliamentary group, voted and decided on 9^th March 2011 to support the Data Retention Directive, while the other political parties are still against introducing these new changes.

An overview of the main parties, state departments and organizations, and their position on this issue:

The introduction of the Data Retention Directive is scheduled to be dealt with in Parliament, and the preliminary date for this is 04/05/2011.

A video about Data Retention Directive (in Norwegian)
 

Too much ICT in school life?

With the new curriculum, “Kunnskapsløftet”/”Knowledge-Promise”, ICT is now a part of all subjects. Some subjects are more affected than others, however all subjects are influenced to a certain degree. Is this really necessary?

I would state that there are both advantages and disadvantages when looking at the use of ICT in schools.

One advantage is that the use of ICT may make school-life easier for some students. Those who struggle with fine motor skills and literacy skills would be able to produce work which is up to standard without having to worry too much about handwriting and grammars. There are also a number of schoolbooks which may be found as audiobooks that the students could access and benefit from.

Another important factor is that the students should get used to using a computer. At our school we do not have a Learning Management System (LMS), however as this is a system which is used in many high schools today it is important for the student to be able to access and understand how to use a computer and LMS before leaving secondary school. One can not argue the fact that we live in a highly technological society and being able to use a computer is a valuable skill which most people will use as a part of either their education or work.

Another advantage to why one should learn how use ICT is that you can use the Internet as an important source of information, however to make sure the information is valid one has to be critical to what is found on the Internet. For students to learn a little about netiquette, what is right and wrong-doing on the Internet, is therefore very important. All of this can not be achieved without giving students the opportunity to try it in practice. And it is a fact that not everyone has the same opportunity to do so at home.

However, the use of ICT in schools may seem somewhat frightening to some. Many teachers, particularly the elderly, are not familiar with ICT, and they are therefore reluctant to use it as part of their teaching. It can be difficult to change a teaching method they have worked with for many years, to allow for ICT to take over.

It's not that I'm against the use of ICT in school, I actually think it is a really good tool for many and it can be very helpful at times, however sometimes I would say that it is being used too much. And do all schools really have the capacity to keep up with ICT and the “Knowledge-Promise”?
At our school where there is just enough computers to cover the needs of the students at the moment, which makes it difficult to follow all the new and improved requirements stated by the “Knowledge-Promise”. Good time-management and organization skills are vital when trying to organize for 150 students to share 10 computers. But I don’t think that our school is the only one struggling with this problem.

Clearly it is important that students learn the use of ICT, but does the computer have to be implemented into all aspects of learning now? What about those who do not have a computer at home? It is in fact so that not everyone has access to a computer at home. Should those students then miss out on some of the learning that those who have computer get? Naturally one can learn and do most of the work whilst at school, but in some subjects there is homework that needs to be done on a computer.

To conclude I would say that it is important to include ICT in schools, however the amount of ICT used and in what subjects it should be included can certainly be discussed.

What's the point of age limit on Facebook?

There have recently been several debates about Facebook and age restrictions. One can hear both on the radio and on television that many people have strong opinions about this topic, both for and against why kids should be allowed to have profiles on Facebook.

The guidelines on Facebook state that one should be over the age of 13 to create a profile, however there are many kids younger then that who have already created their profile. Why is there an age restriction when it's so easy to avoid it? Is it too easy to create a profile?

The fact that it is too easy to avoid the age restriction is obvious. It shouldn’t be so easy to ignore the age limit when they have made rules stating the age restrictions. You can simply change the year of birth to one that states that you are old enough and you have successfully created a profile.

In the beginning Facebook was for the slightly older population while the younger crowd preferred Nettby and other similar social media. But nowadays the younger adults and kids seem to gradually shift to prefer Facebook, a tendency which can be confirmed by the increased number of kids creating profiles on Facebook. Why this tendency when the rules state that one must be over the age of 13 to create profiles? Adults, especially parents, must take some of the responsibility. After discussing the problem with some of the kids, many of them new, young members on Facebook, they said that their parents had helped them create a profile. The parents then set as a requirement that they have to be friends so that they can monitor what their kids do on Facebook. But is this right when the age restriction is there? What signals are they sending to their children?

There are not a lot of people who are aware of the guidelines on Facebook which states that profiles of all kids under 13 years of age will be deleted if they find out that the profile belongs to someone that young. It also states that those who are older may provide information about any such profiles they see, but this is something very few do. Why is it so? This is something we who are older should acknowledge and think through.

But why is it there age limit on facebook?
The only reason I can mention right now for why there should be age limits on a social media such as Facebook, is to prevent older people to easily get in contact with young adults and kids. You hear all too often about adults, particularly men, pretending to be far younger then their real age to establish contact with much younger girls.

To conclude I would say that it is unnecessary to have an age limit when it is so easy for those younger then the limit to create a profile anyways. It would be better if everyone could have a profile with their correct age, so that children who are 8-9 years old don’t have to pretend that they are older then they really are.

Lying on their age on Facebook (in Norwegian) 

Så va d min tur t å blogge.....

Ja så har æ å laga mæ en blogg..... Skal se om æ får lagt inn litt fornuftie og ikke fult så fornuftie innlegg ettehvert....men først å fremst e den oppretta pga. studian.