How does life, society and the law react to the evolution of digital technology?
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The Copyright Designs and Patents Act (1988) gives creators of digital media the rights to control how their work is used and distributed. Music, books, videos, games and software can all be covered by copyright law.
Anything which you design or code is automatically copyrighted and may not be copied without your permission, as the digital creator.
When you buy software, for example, copyright law forbids you from:
close network A group of interconnected computers/devices. (unless the
Some applications or programs will only run if a special piece of hardware is plugged into the computer or if a unique code is entered for that specific device.
In 1984 a voluntary, not for profit, group FAST was set up by the computer/software industry. It aims to prevent software
close piracy Acquiring, profiting from, using or making any changes to copyrighted material without having sought and obtained prior permission and has a policy of prosecuting anyone found to be breaching
close copyright A set of rights that prevents people copying and distributing a piece of work without the copyright holder's permission. law.
FAST also works to educate the public about good software practice and legal requirements.
Software piracy is the illegal copying and sale of software products. This includes both professional criminals who make large numbers of copies of software and sell them illegally, and individual users who copy a friend's CD or use the internet to download and install software or digital media they haven't paid for.
Software companies spend a lot of money developing applications and programs. They take many steps to help stop software piracy.