Report based on the Aye Choonz music service - Essay Example

What copyright issues might arise from the Palz Choonz service for users and for the service owners? (25 marks) The Palz Choonz service epitomizes what is known as the “peer-to-peer” file sharing. Users can upload music files from their devices and by connecting to the Aye Choonz system, allow other users to retrieve the file on demand. Users can choose the music to make available and can also obtain electronic copies of music that any other person may have chosen to upload to the system. Using the “MP3” technology, music files are duplicated, transferred and stored for efficient reproduction and sound recording in a computer-readable format. The copyright and patent concepts were both included in the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA) 1988 (s. 4(1) and.5 A (1)). Under Article 1, (s. 4(a), of the constitution, the DPA secures for a limited time period to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writing and Discoveries In the case of Napster the Ninth Circuit also held that Napster was not protected under Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studio, Inc., “the Betamax case”, because of Napster’s “actual, specific knowledge of direct infringement.” Napster argued that the existing Audio Home Recording Act 9(17 U.S.C. §§1001-10) protected them under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbor clause (17U.S.C § 512). The Ninth Circuit agreed that downloading MP3 files is not covered by the Audio Home Recording Act. In the case of A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc.: With each request, the system made an additional “reproduction,” and the transmission constituted a “distribution” of the work.1 In conclusion, subscribers of Palz Choonz are committing infringements that can result in legal liability but litigation against a vast number of individuals is obviously problematic; a lawsuit against Aye Choonz service is a more efficient route of either shutting down the system or restructuring it to include royalty payments. Aye Choonz is liable for the misdeeds of its users, and thus liable to “contributory infringement” or “vicarious infringement.”2 And in violation of the Audio Home Recording Act3 or the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.4 (S. 198(1)) 2. What, if any, rights might the Aye Choonz service owners have in their Buy Choonz customer database? (25 marks) Customer database brings about the issue of privacy, which is a complex legal issue. The Electronic Communications Privacy Act is tasked with protecting users. Websites such as Aye Choonz collect significant amounts of personal and identifiable data that can trigger liability risk (s.3 (1, b, i)). Users5 consent to the collections of names, physical or email addresses and credit card information through forms are archived on the site. By Aye Choonz allowing third-party advertiser’s6 access to the database, it means that these organisations can track users’ browsing habits. Using cookies information is collected as a user surfs the web and feeds the information to a web server. The Aye Choonz vendor site will send cookies which are basically an identification number to the client’s computer, where it is stored in a file on the client’s hard drive and serves as a digital identifier tag that notifies Aye Choonz whenever the client re-enters the Buy Choonz site (s.3 (1,c).. According to The Electronic Communication Privacy Act7 sites like Aye Choonz can be liable for allowing commercial organisations to place cookies on users’ hard drives. Aye Choonz can also face the Common-law Privacy tort8 which is a common law doctrine of personal privacy and includes four grounds of tort (s.3 (5, 6)). Mc Veigh V. Cohen, the U.S. Navy obtained personal information from America Online regarding an anonymous user who described himself in his AOL user profile as a gay military officer (McVeigh, 1998) Proponents of online profiling contend that collecting user data allows sites to improve services. Aye Choonz should disclose data sharing with a third party to users even if the data is intended for internal use. Also adopt the opt-out approach, which allows consumers to choose not to allow their data to be shared with third parties or used for marketing purposes. 3. Could any trade mark issues arise from the use of Aye Choonz as a name for the service? (25 marks) When setting up a website, the first step is registering the domain name, www. AyeChoonz.com. A domain name is the unique address that guides a user’s browser to the computer on which a website resides. It has two elements, the top-level domain (TLD) and the second-level domain (SLD). TLD would be the familiar www. AyeChoonz.com and the SLD is the domain name ChoonzNewz. In all the current open gTLDs (.com, .org and .net) must abide by a standard Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Agreement9 most commercial concerns usually occur when similar names are registered as this confuses the customer. The name Aye Choonz can be mistaken for the more established iTunes. That is why the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act was created in November 1999. This Act made it easier for individuals and companies to take over domain names that are confusingly similar to their names or valid trademarks and had to establish that the domain name holder acted in bad faith (Article.21). Microsoft vs. MikeRoweSoft was a legal disagreement between Microsoft and a Canadian student named Mike Rowe over the domain name registered as "MikeRoweSoft.com". Microsoft Corporation saw it as trademark violation because of its phonetic similarity to their trademarked corporate name and demanded that he give up the domain. In 1995, a company acquired the domain name “candyland” and spent a substantial amount advertising adult publications but in 1996 Hasbro planned to offer an internet version of its board game “Candy land”. Hasbro sued and won as it was ruled that the use of “Candyland” in connection to sexually explicit pornographic material tarnished the pure, sweet, wholesome and fun imagery associated with the Hasbro’s “Candyland” trademark[(pg 2) CYBER LAW]. Registering a domain name is often done without any legal representation. Many legal issues arise over trademark and copyright infringement issues. The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy challenges existing domain names (s.55 (a, i)). The trademark owners who own the trademark that are confusingly similar to established brands and the Parties that registered the domain name have no legitimate right or interest to the domain name registered and uses it in bad faith. 4. What must the owners of the Aye Choonz service do to ensure that they comply with data protection law? (25 marks) The data protection laws strike a balance between the rights of individuals to privacy and the ability of service providers (Aye Choonz) to use data for the purposes of their business (s.56 (3)). The Data Protection Act in 1984 introduced basic rules of registration10 for users of data and rights of access to that data for the users to who it related to. These rights and rules were superseded by the Data Protection Act of 1998.11 Aye Choonz are the data controllers, they determine the purposes or manner for which the personal data will be processed and used. Personal data is the information relating to a living individual who can be identified from the data (s.1 (2)). Thus Aye Choonz is obligated to process data fairly and lawfully. The data should only be obtained for lawful and specified purposes. The data should be relevant, adequate and not excessive information of the users (s.1 (2, b)). Section 2(1) (c) of the Data Protection Act, 2003 provides that data “shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive”. In the case of Swan Leisure centre in rathmines vs. a guest12, the complainant said that the guest registration form was too intrusive and this lead to his refused entry to the swimming pool. The registration form contained the usual questions name, address, telephone number email date of birth. But the 2nd page was a list of medical-related questions history of heart disease, respiratory diseases and diabetes which he found to be too personal to share. The increased use of information technology and the internet ensures that data protection remains an important and relevant law (s.19 (1d)) that online businesses are required to comply with. The internet is all about information and the transfer, storage, dissemination and collection of vital information and thus such vital and mostly private and personal data is very delicate and has to be safe guarded by service providers like Aye Choonz13. (Word Count 1566) Bibliography Bednarz, T. & C. Waelde, C., 2009. Keyword advertising and trademarks: fair innovation or free riding? Carey, P., 2009. Data protection: practical guide to UK and EU law. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Edwards, L. & Waelde, C., eds. Law and the Internet. 3rd ed. Oxford: Hart, pp. 311-334 Hargreaves, I., 2011. Digital opportunity: a review of intellectual property and growth. Retrieved on November 27 2013 from, < http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ipreview-finalreport.pdf> Jones, H. & Benson, C., 2011. Publishing law, 4th ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2011 MacQueen, H. et al, 2011. Contemporary intellectual property, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press Privacy in Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/2426) (implement the E-Privacy Directive in the UK) Privacy in Electronic Communications Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/1208) (implement the Cookie Directive in the UK). Phillips, J. & A. Firth, 2009. Introduction to intellectual property law. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford. The Copyright, Designs and Patents Acts 1988. Retrieved on November 27 2013 from, The Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997. Retrieved on November 27 213 from, Wilson, C., 2009. Domain names and trade marks: an uncomfortable interrelationship. Read More