Law Commons^™

End User Liability For Sofware Developed With Trade Secrets, Jeff Patterson

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) developed the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) to unify the laws regulating the improper use of secret, economically advantageous information. However, consumers often procure software and other products without knowledge of any trade secrets used in the production of the products. Some companies have sought remedies against end users of products developed using trade secrets. But in Silvaco Data Systems v. Intel Corp., a California appeals court considering this issue in the software context held that execution of compiled object code, which is not easily interpreted by humans, is …

Discovery Of Breathalyzer Source Code In Dui Prosecutions, Aurora J. Wilson

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

In driving under the influence (DUI) cases, prosecutors habitually rely on the results from breathalyzer tests as proof of the defendant’s blood alcohol level at the time of arrest. In response, DUI defendants often attempt to compel discovery of the source code contained in the test device, which can reveal whether the breath test at issue was performed accurately. Despite the popularity of this strategy, nearly all states to consider the issue have denied the defendant’s motion for discovery of breathalyzer source code. The majority of courts construe state and federal rules of criminal procedure to limit discovery orders to …

Broadcasting Expectations: An Unprotected Wireless Network Takes On Constitutional Dimensions, Duncan Stark

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

In January 2010, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon decided U.S. v. Ahrndt, the first case regarding the reasonable expectation of privacy in a home wireless internet network. The court found that the defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy in his unsecured home wireless network because he had openly shared information on a system freely accessible by his neighbors. This Article examines the Ahrndt case and the potential legal effect this issue may have on an individual’s expectation of privacy in his or her wireless network and personal computer files. This Article concludes that although …

Jacobsen Revisited: Conditions, Covenants And The Future Of Open-Source Software Licenses, Yamini Menon

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Open-source software licensing has become mainstream in the field of software development. Nowhere is this more evident than in the 2008 Federal Circuit decision Jacobsen v. Katzer, where the court first interpreted the terms of an open-source software license. The Jacobsen decision offers an important first step in how to interpret the terms of an open-source license, though it does not address how to interpret licenses other than the Artistic License. This Article explores how Jacobsen’s reasoning can be used to interpret the terms of other open-source licenses, particularly the GPL v.2, GPL v.3, Apache License v.2, BSD …

Gimme A Brekka!: Deciphering "Authorization" Under The Cfaa And How Employers Can Protect Their Data, Amber L. Leaders

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Federal circuit courts offer conflicting interpretations of when an employee violates the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) by accessing an employer’s computer system without authorization. Enacted originally as an anti-hacker statute, the language of the CFAA proves ambiguous when courts attempt to apply its sanctions to individuals given access to a computer (such as an employee by an employer). Circuit Courts have interpreted the statute differently, generally applying one of two theories to reach their interpretations: (1) agency theory; or (2) looking to the plain language of the statute and the rule of lenity. These differing interpretations have resulted …

Enforcement Of Open Source Software Licenses: The Mdy Trio's Inconvenient Compliations, Robert W. Gomulkiewicz

Articles

The Federal Circuit’s ruling in Jacobsen v. Katzer [535 F.3d 1373 (Fed. Cir. 2008)] finally settled the question of whether open source licenses are enforceable. Unfortunately, three recent cases from the Ninth Circuit have complicated matters. I call this trio of cases the “MDY Trio” in honor of the Ninth Circuit’s prior trio of licensing cases known as the “MAI Trio.”

On the surface, the MDY Trio provides a boost for the enforceability of software licenses, but the MDY Trio also creates two significant complications for open source licenses. First, the MDY Trio’s test for distinguishing between licenses and copyright …

Open Robotics, M. Ryan Calo

Articles

Robotics is poised to be the next transformative technology. Robots are widely used in manufacturing, warfare, and disaster response, and the market for personal robotics is exploding. Worldwide sales of home robots—such as iRobot’s popular robotic vacuum cleaner—are in the millions. In fact, Honda has predicted that by the year 2020, it will sell as many robots as it does cars. Microsoft founder Bill Gates believes that the robotics industry is in the same place today as the personal computer (“PC”) business was in the 1970s, a belief that is significant given that there are now well over one billion …