The landscape is very diverse and ranges from operating systems till the utility to edit photos
The Periscope case proves it once again: the rules on the copyright and intellectual property must be constantly updated to keep up with scenarios before which the technology put us in front.
To date, digital media and software are released under the cover of licenses. In the case of images, videos, texts and music tracks, for example, these can be found online or as works protected by copyright works both as freely usable and editable. In the first case the intellectual property is fully protected and guaranteed, and the user is required to pay a sum to use the audio track (or movie or image) both for personal and for business purposes: in both these situations However, intellectual property remains the prerogative of the author, while the user acquires only the right of use. In the second case, however, the work can be spread by various licenses of use, first of all the Creative Commons : This type of license allows you to distribute the work in a manner Free, enabling the user to edit it or adapt it to your needs while maintaining the intellectual property in their own hands.
Totally different, or nearly so, the case of the software licenses . The universe of computer programs is ranging from operating systems until you get to the utility to edit photos: a landscape so rich corresponds to a wide variety of software licenses that regulate the manner of use, exchange and sharing programs by users. Also in this case the licenses are collected in two macrocategoriequelle for proprietary software and those for free software or Open Source. The first consists of licenses EULA ( End-User License Agreement or license agreement with the end user, allowing the user to use the software license, while the developer maintains the intellectual property); shareware (popular in the early 90s, this license allows the user to try a free version of the software for a limited period of time and with limited functionality); and freeware (program distributed for free and can be distributed freely by anyone). Among the free software licenses or Open Source license are GNU GPL (used, for example, for the issuance of various Linux distributions) that do not bind (completely) user licenses to use and gives the opportunity not only to redistribute the software, but also to modify it and adapt it to your needs (in this case it is called open source software , since users must have free access to the source code of the program to be edited). Among other free licenses we find the GNU LGPL , the BSD licenses and MIT license .
Despite the wide range of software licenses available there is a node that is found: when you sell a used computer (but also a smartphone, a tablet or smartwatch) what happened to the authorized copies of the programs that are installed on the hard disk? The EULA, in most cases, it is personal and involves the use only by those who have actually purchased the software. A great limitation, especially in the case of programs vital and necessary for the operation of the computer or portable device such as the operating system. According to current rules, the software could not be transferred with the Machine : a strong limitation, in short, the second hand market and second-hand devices.
In the US Congress are trying to to patch with the bill YODA (acronym for Your own device act ), made in September 2014. With this act, the US representatives would like to introduce a rule that provides for the possibility to sell not only the electronic device, but also the authorized copies of the software required to operate the device. To be clear, going to sell a laptop, you cede de facto license to use the operating system.
April 20, 2015
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