BEGINNERS' PROGRAM:
Modem Speeds - What do they mean?
presented by Ben Loyall, of Widomaker Communications Service
There are two speeds:
1) Carrier Speed - modem talking to modem, which refers to uncompressed file transfer
2) CPU to Serial Port speed
MAIN PROGRAM:
Internet and Copyright Law
presented by Trotter Hardy, Professor of Law at the College of William and Mary
Some Terms
Is it copyrighted? How will I know?
Most of the time, it is easy to copyright material, though you don't "get" a copyright, you either have it or you don't. A work is automatically copyrighted when a created original is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. For example, these very notes were copyrighted as I wrote them during the meeting. Before 1989, people would have been required to display the copyright symbol upon release to protect their rights of ownership, but after this date it is no longer needed. If the work is in any tangible medium, it is copyrighted.
In 1976, when the copyright law was most recently changed, the law no longer referred to "things" like books or records. Copyright law now protects "works of authorship", however they are expressed. In other words, it isn't the book, record, or the CD, etc. that is copyrighted, it is the words, the music, etc. that are protected.
What is infringement of copyright?
Infringement is exercising the rights of the copyright owner without permission. There are four kinds of infringement:
Where does infringement fit into the Internet picture? Most authorities agree that when something is on a web site, it is a public display. If someone displays someone else's web work without permission from the creator of that work, a copyright infringement has been made.
Infringement types
Trotter Hardy divided infringements into three categories:
1. small infringements - as in making it cheaper to copy something than it was before. Books used to have to be printed on a press; now they can be photocopied. Here is another example of small infringement. In the 19th century, itinerant theater troupes performed plays without paying royalties to the playwright. No one could catch them because they were never in one place very long. In response, Congress tripled the penalty for those who were caught. (Because most of these troupes were from Canada, the fines did not penalized U.S. voters!) Another example of this type of infringement was the making of bootleg tapes. Before 1992, this was illegal, but Congress has given the okay now. It has been determined that the copyright holders of the materials get a part of the tax charged on the sale of the tapes themselves.
2. new uses for existing materials - such as broadcasting music on records( a technology that was already in existence) over the radio. Congress decided that radio stations should pay a fee to play the music.
3. new subject matter - involves new ways to present existing works (records, CDs, etc.)
Why the Internet creates problems with the issue of copyright On the Internet, there are lots of different owners of what is presented and there is no control of how these materials are used by those who view or hear them. It is easy to make copies of artwork, photos, sounds, and movies. The very structure of the Internet has created problems with how to protect the materials in cyberspace.
What about hypertext links and computer caching? You have all seen web pages that present a collection of links to other places in cyberspace. This is a great service because someone else has taken the time to research, check, and categorize resources we may want to find and access. We use these collections as a virtual index to cyber resources. Are the collections of links copyrighted? Maybe the collection will be treated like the collection of words and definitions in a dictionary, but copyright law for this instance has not been determined yet.
Caching is what your computer does after it loads a web page. Your computer stores the images and text in the hard drive temporarily, remembering it until it throws the information out when capacity is reached or until you quit or turn your computer off. If you go back to that page during the same session, the computer calls up the information from the hard drive rather than pulling it from cyberspace again. This results in faster load time for those big graphics you saw earlier, and most likely waited forever for the first time you viewed them. Is it an infringement of copyright law for those images to reside on your hard drive, stored to your computer, even temporarily? Isn't that like making an illegal copy? This too is yet to be decided upon.
Put my work on the Internet? You must be crazy! In many instances, content holders are hesitant to display their work in cyberspace until copyright issues have been resolved. Congress has so far had three responses to these issues:
1. triple the penalties for those who get caught (this is unlikely because the offenders would include U.S. voters)
2. legalize it or use a tax on hard drives as a form of royalty payments
3. foil the copiers with technology, make it difficult of copy cyber-materials
Technological ways to stop copying on the Internet
1. use of encryption - encode or scramble documents, graphics, or other files so that people who want to see them must first pay to unscramble them. The problem with this method is that once the file is decrypted, any number of copies can be made.
2. use of proprietary viewers - for instance, you may see an image on the web that has a logo over it. To see the image without the logo, you must get the viewer which disables your keyboard while you are using it...not allowing you to copy the clear image.
3. use a watermark - which alters the background with information that becomes visible when you print the image or document...like who holds the rights to it. If someone distributes or displays the image and their name is not a part of the watermark, it is clear that they are committing a copyright infringement.
4. store pieces of the web page in different locations - which means anyone copying a web page would only get part of it. Graphics, for instance, would be located in another file (creating extra steps as a means of control) or even on another computer that is not accessible to the cyber-public.
5. use frames to present information - as some news services do <http://www.totalnews.com>. Frames allow designers to display another owner's site within a window located in their own page design, thus using but not copying the work.
It is very easy to register a copyright on original works of authorship. It can be done by contacting the copyright office (in the phonebook), paying a fee of $20, and filling out the proper forms.
ADVANCED SESSION:
Java
presented by Dave Hamilton of Sun Microsystems
The presentation covered Java, the language, as well as the Java Computing Environment, and why it has received so much attention. There was a demonstration of a prototype JavaStation, Sun's Network Computer (NC). For the JavaSoft Home Page, see <http://java.sun.com> Programmers who want to see applet codes, email Dave at <david.hamilton@east.sun.com> and he will forward some to you.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Membership in the Williamsburg Internet Association: Membership is $10 per year. Membership entitles you to a vote and to be on the Majordomo mailing listserver. Members receive minutes, meeting announcements, etc. and they can send and receive information to/from all other members.
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, April 16, at 7 P.M. at the Williamsburg Regional Library. Program to be announced.
DISTRIBUTION:
These minutes (and other important announcements from the WIA) are being mailed to all members of the WIA majordomo mailing list. They will also be posted to the newsgroups:
For more information about the Williamsburg Internet Association, see our web page at: <http://wia.widomaker.com>
See you at the next meeting!