Network Law Update: February 1995
Author
William J. Cook
Entry type
misc
Abstract
The headline in the New York Times was clear, "Pirated Copies of Latest
Software From IBM, Others Posted on the Internet" (NYT 10/31/94). The
ramifications were simple: the market for a new computer program can
be quickly destroyed if it is posted on the Internet. Most new programs
will enjoy at least a six month marketing "shelf life". But a million
dollar computer program created on Monday, stolen and uploaded to the
Internet on Tuesday, can be worthless by Friday. The victim-author
programmer may not even know his new, "heater" program now resides on a
publicly accessible, anonymous file server in France. Nevertheless, his
(and your) projected six month marketing window has now shrunk to four
days.
Date
1995 – February
Address
Chicago, IL 60611
Institution
William Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Key alpha
Cook
Publication Date
0000-00-00
Location
A hard-copy of this is in the Papers Cabinet