Anti-Piracy Laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Anti-Piracy Laws - Essay Example Following an audit by the Business Software Alliance, in which our organization was found guilty of violating copyright laws and of running unlicensed, pirated, software on some of its computers, the ICT department experimented with both software and hardware deterrence mechanisms prior to implementing the former. With the proliferation of peer-to-peer software and the growing ease of downloading and installing pirated software, organizations often confront serious difficulties in implementing anti-piracy regulations. Certainly, there are few, if any, organizations which do not have clear-cut anti-piracy policies but employees often assume that they will not be caught.' The fact is that they can very well be, with the organization left liable for the payment of the resultant fines and vulnerable to lawsuits by the software producers in question (Kizza, 2002). It is for this reason that policies have to be complimented with hardware or software-based deterrent techniques. Following a February 2006 audit by the Business Software Alliance, our organization decided that since policies were not effectively deterring employees from infringing anti-piracy laws, software and hardware mechanisms were required. A thorough study of the advantages and disadvantages of each was conducted prior to implementing software solutions. Special purpose hardware is commonly use... Special purpose hardware is commonly used in proof of ownership, to provide secure data storage and to provide a secure execution context for security-sensitive applications. Such hardware is typically more cumbersome for the user and more expensive than software based techniques. 2.1.1 Dongles A dongle is a hardware device distributed with software. Possession of the device proves ownership of software. A dongle typically connects to an I/O port and computes the output of a secret function. While running, the software periodically queries the dongle. If the communication fails or the results of the query are wrong, the software reacts appropriately (Craig and Burnett, 2005). There are three major drawbacks to dongles. These are cost, impracticality and vulnerability. Dongles are expensive at $10 per unit and distributing them with software is not practical. Thirdly, the attack point is clearly defined since the interface to the device is a hardware interface. This means that the signals passing over the interface must conform to the software standards. This gives attackers and analysis advantage (Craig and Burnett, 2005). 2.1.2 Tamperproof CPUs Tamperproof CPUs aid in piracy prevention by providing a secure context and/or secure data storage. By executing the software in a secure environment, the pirate is unable to gain access to the software. This technique prevents the attacker from observing the behavior of the software which means he is unable to identify portions of the software to remove. The obvious drawback to this technique is the cost of requiring all users to have tamperproof hardware (Flynn, 2005). 2.1.3 Smartcards Smartcards store cryptographic keys for use in authentication and authorization systems. A typical smartcard

Discharge of Contract on the Grounds of Frustration Coursework

Discharge of Contract on the Grounds of Frustration - Coursework Example Jardinia Limited has signed two contracts with Southern Belles which entails the installation and fitting of an industrial size system for the poly-tunnels and green house. Payment for installation will be due on completion of the work. The other contract states that 100 units are to be provided for resale to the general public at a cost of ?250 each to Southern Belles Ltd. A ?5,000 deposit had already been paid. However, a day before completion of the work, a storm destroyed all the installations completely. Southern Belles Limited is therefore claiming that both contracts are discharged on the grounds of frustration with no money to be paid on the fitting contract and the deposit refunded. Force Majeure Clause If either Jardinia Limited or Southern Belles Limited is prevented or stopped from carrying out its duties as it had been agreed upon in the contract (other than their duties to make their payments) by a force majeure event then: The affected party will be relieved from perfo rming its duties as long as the force majeure event continues to pose as an inhibiting factor further affecting in completion of the project. ... e Event, how it has affected its ability to carry out its obligations as it had been agreed upon in the contract and the measures that have been developed by the party to prevent such a Force Majeure Event from occurring and destroying property. The affected party has to establish mitigation measures to eliminate effects of the Force Majeure Event that may prevent it from fulfilling its obligations as stated in the contract. After cessation of the Force Majeure Event, the affected party should provide a written notification to the other party informing it of the cessation of the Force Majeure Event. The party should then continue with performance of its duties as the two parties had agreed on. Southern Belles Limited will give the agreed amount of money to Jardinia Limited for installation of an industrial size system for a green house and poly-tunnels as soon as sales are attained. Southern Belles Limited will use all reasonable efforts to ensure it attains production capabilities. A Force Majeure Event is therefore described as any event that occurs without any knowledge of a party and it is beyond an individual’s reasonable control. The event is unavoidable and does not withstand the reasonable care of a party. A Force Majeure Event at Jardinia Limited will not constitute a Force Majeure Event, unless most of its operations are entirely affected. Force Majeure Clause denotes that the storm triggered the operation of this clause as the contractor could not avoid occurrence of the storm and could still not provide against it. The storm qualifies as a Force Majeure Event since it totally destroyed work that had been done and has as well prevented it from going on as planned. The storm has had severe impacts on the contract as additional costs, time as well as inputs