4.+Copyright+and+the+Law

People can be sued, jailed or charged by the police and can be ordered to pay a fine, for doing one of the following, unless there is an exception (Australian Copyright Council, 1994-2010): > - Authorising infringement > - Recording or filming a live performance without the performers' permission and therefore watching it later. > - Importing certain types of items containing copyright material, such as feature films on DVD, or copying CD's onto an iPod. > Shareware has so many advantages over commercial software. One of these advantages is the cost-being cheaper than commercial software (Business Management Software Guides, 2010). The Business Management Software Guide claims that this is because “shareware often outperforms the quality of commercial software”. It is also cheaper because the author's distribution and advertising costs are very low (Coherent Software Australia Pty Ltd, 2009). The benefit of shareware is that it is a free software product on the internet for a limited time before you actually buy it.
 * === List THREE ways of committing a crime under Australia's Copyright Act. ===
 * === Explain why shareware is cheaper than commercial software packages. ===

3M an international company, recently developed a new technology of “disc impression” which allows companies to imprint an image on the read side of a CD-ROM (Abrown, 2004). This technology does not prevent piracy, but if a pirate would copy it, it will be different to the original and therefore make that copy traceable by law enforcement officials. Abrown states that “sometimes, when a person uses a pirated program, there is a "virus" attached to the program. These viruses mainly found on pirated computer games. They are self-replicating programs that, when activated, can damage a computer and are a mainly found on pirated computer games. > > I definitely think it is incorrect and illegal to copy software without permission of the author. This is because firstly it is not my work and idea. Secondly it is illegal. For example we are supposed to buy the correct amount of software for each computer, not just one and copy it onto another. Thirdly it is unfair to the author, as we steal their idea. This is called piracy and therefore it will lead to them losing money. > >
 * === Describe the technology developed by one Australian company to reduce software piracy. ===
 * === Why is copyright a major problem to multimedia publishers? ===
 * === Do you think it is right to copy software without the permission of the author? Justify your answer. ===
 * === What are the legal issues surrounding software and the internet? In particular, look at sites from which software may be downloaded eg. and list the types of software available on such sites. Search for the Australian Copyright Council's site and see what you can discover about the rights of software designers when their software is made available on the Internet ===