[Ecommerce] Microsoft Risks Copyright Impotence
John T. Mitchell
John@InteractionLaw.com
Mon May 5 16:39:00 2003
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Just thought some of you might be interested in a short piece I wrote
entitled "Microsoft Risks Copyright Impotence."
The tickler: By using a EULA attached to its Visual FoxPro software to
try to prevent lawful uses of the work, Microsoft may risk copyright
impotence. This article argues that such conduct may constitute misuse
of copyrights, and prevent Microsoft from being able to enforce its
FoxPro copyright while the misuse is ongoing. "If Microsoft is serious
about wanting to enforce its copyright in FoxPro, it should stop trying
to leverage its copyright into control over the rights of others,"
argues John Mitchell.
See <http://interactionlaw.com/interactionlaw/id12.html>
http://interactionlaw.com/interactionlaw/id12.html.
A Rutgers law student took issue with me (largely for citing only one
case, though I did it for the benefit of a non-legal FoxPro developers
audience), so I have gathered some additional legal authority to back it
up, if any of you want more.
John
______________________________
John T. Mitchell
mailto: <mailto:John@InteractionLaw.com> John@InteractionLaw.com
<http://interactionlaw.com/> http://interactionlaw.com
1-202-415-9213
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>
<DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=503310705-05052003><FONT face=Arial>Just thought some of you
might be interested in a short piece I wrote entitled "Microsoft Risks Copyright
Impotence."</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV><SPAN class=503310705-05052003>
<DIV><SPAN class=503310705-05052003><FONT face=Arial>The tickler: By using a
EULA attached to its Visual FoxPro software to try to prevent lawful uses of the
work, Microsoft may risk copyright impotence. This article argues that
such conduct may constitute misuse of copyrights, and prevent Microsoft from
being able to enforce its FoxPro copyright while the misuse is ongoing.
"If Microsoft is serious about wanting to enforce its copyright in FoxPro, it
should stop trying to leverage its copyright into control over the rights of
others," argues John Mitchell.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=503310705-05052003><FONT face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>See </FONT><A
href="http://interactionlaw.com/interactionlaw/id12.html"><FONT
face=Arial>http://interactionlaw.com/interactionlaw/id12.html</FONT></A><FONT
face=Arial>.<SPAN class=892425313-05052003> </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV></SPAN><SPAN class=503310705-05052003><FONT face=Arial>A Rutgers law
student took issue with me (largely for citing only one case, though I did it
for the benefit of a<SPAN class=892425313-05052003> non-legal</SPAN> FoxPro
developers audience), so I have gathered some additional legal authority to back
it up, if any of you want more.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=503310705-05052003><FONT face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=503310705-05052003><FONT face=Arial>John</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<P><FONT size=2>______________________________<BR>John T. Mitchell<BR><SPAN
class=892425313-05052003><A
href="mailto:John@InteractionLaw.com">mailto:</SPAN>John@InteractionLaw.com</A><BR></FONT><A
href="http://interactionlaw.com/"><FONT
size=2>http://interactionlaw.com</FONT></A><BR><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=892425313-05052003>1-</SPAN>202-415-9213<BR></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>
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