Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Software Licensing And Piracy Essays - Intellectual Property Law

Software Licensing and Piracy In 1993 worldwide illegal copying of domestic and international software cost $12.5 billion to the software industry, with a loss of $2.2 billion in the United States alone. Estimates show that over 40 percent of U.S. software company revenues are generated overseas, yet nearly 85 percent of the software industry's piracy losses occurred outside of the United States borders. The Software Publishers Association indicated that approximately 35 percent of the business software in the United States was obtained illegally, which 30 percent of the piracy occurs in corporate settings. In a corporate setting or business, every computer must have its own set of original software and the appropriate number of manuals. It is illegal for a corporation or business to purchase a single set of original software and then load that software onto more than one computer, or lend, copy or distribute software for any reason without the prior written consent of the software manufacturer. Many software managers are concerned with the legal compliance, along with asset management and costs at their organizations. Many firms involve their legal departments and human resources in regards to software distribution and licensing. Information can qualify to be property in two ways; patent law and copyright laws which are creations of federal statutes, pursuant to Constitutional grant of legislative authority. In order for the government to prosecute the unauthorized copying of computerized information as theft, it must first rely on other theories of information-as-property. Trade secret laws are created by state law, and most jurisdictions have laws that criminalize the violations of a trade-secret holder's rights in the secret. The definition of a trade secret varies somewhat from state to state, but commonly have the same elements. For example, AThe information must be secret, Anot of public knowledge or of general knowledge in the trade or business, a court will allow a trade secret to be used by someone who discovered or developed the trade secret independently or if the holder does not take adequate precautions to protect the secret. In 1964 the United States Copyright Office began to register software as a form of literary expression. The office based its decision on White-Smith Music Co. v. Apollo , where the Supreme Court determined that a piano roll used in a player piano did not infringe upon copyrighted music because the roll was part of a mechanical device. Since a computer program is textual, like a book, yet also mechanical, like the piano roll in White-Smith, the Copyright Office granted copyright protection under the rule of doubt. In 1974, Congress created the Natural Commission on New Technological Uses (CONTU) to investigate whether the evolving computer technology field outpaced the existing copyright laws and also to determine the extent of copyright protection for computer programs. CONTU concluded that while copyright protection should extend beyond the literal source code of a computer program, evolving case law should determine the extent of protection. The commission also felt copyright was the best alternative among existing intellectual property protective mechanisms, and CONTU rejected trade secret and patents as viable protective mechanisms. The CONTU report resulted in the 1980 Computer Software Act, and the report acts as informal legislative history to aid the courts in interpreting the Act. In 1980 The Copyright Act was amended to explicitly include computer programs. Title 17 to the United States Code states that it is illegal to make or to distribute copies of copyrighted material without authorization, except for the user's right to make a single backup copy for archival purposes. Any written material (including computer programs) fixed in a tangible form (written somewhere i.e. printout) is considered copyrighted without any additional action on the part of the author. Therefore, it is not necessary that a copy of the software program be deposited with the Copyright Office in Washington, D.C. for the program to be protected as copyrighted. With that in mind then a copyright is a property right only. In order to prevent anyone from selling your software programs, you must ask a court (federal) to stop that person by an injunction and to give you damages for the injury they have done to you by selling the program. The

Friday, March 20, 2020

Reasons You Can Be Denied a Firearm Transfer

Reasons You Can Be Denied a Firearm Transfer Since the passage of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, anyone who purchases a firearm in the United States must submit to a background check to determine if they are eligible to buy and possess a gun. Licensed gun dealers must check each person who tries to buy a firearm through the FBIs National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). When a prospective buyer wants to purchase a firearm, they must first provide the dealer with photo identification and a completed Firearms Transaction Record, or Form 4473. If the buyer answers yes to any of the questions on Form 4473, the dealer is required to deny the sale. It is a felony,  punishable by up to five years in prison, to lie when completing the form. If the buyer qualifies, the dealer will then request a NICS check. The NICS has three business days to either approve or deny the sale. If the three days pass without a NICS determination, then the dealer can process the sale of the firearm (depending on local laws) or wait until the NICS responds. On average, only about one percent of firearms transfers are denied by the NICS system, mainly because most convicted criminals already know they are not eligible to own a gun. Prohibitive Criteria for Firearm Transfers Under federal law, there are specific reasons that a firearm transfer can be denied. If you have had a firearm transfer denied, it is because you or someone else with a similar name or descriptive features has ever been: Convicted of a felonyConvicted in any court of a crime which is  punishable by a term of more than one year or a misdemeanor punishable by more than two years. This is the number one reason why requests for firearm transfers are denied.Indicted for a crime punishable by more than one yearA fugitive from justiceA user of illegal drugs or an addictInvoluntarily committed to a mental institutionAn illegal alienDishonorably discharged from the armed forcesRenounced your U.S. citizenshipSubject to a restraining order for threatening a family memberConvicted of domestic violenceUnder an  indictment, but not convicted, of a crime carrying a possible year-long prison sentence State Prohibitions The NCIS can also deny a firearm transfer based on any applicable state laws. For example, if your state has a law prohibiting the possession of a specific type of firearm, the NICS can deny your transfer even though possession of that firearm is not prohibited by federal law. The Brady Law was designed to make sure that only law-abiding citizens can purchase and own firearms, but critics claim that the law only created a huge black-market demand for illegal guns sales to criminals. NCIS Accuracy In September 2016 the Department of Justices Office of the Inspector General performed an audit to check the FBIs quality control of NICS transactions. They selected 447 denied transactions and found that only one transaction was incorrectly denied, which resulted in a 99.8 percent accuracy rate. Next, the auditors looked at records that the FBI had denied the transaction within three business days. Out of 306 records chosen randomly, 241 were processed by the FBI appropriately. However, six of the transactions were denied internally by the FBI, but the denial was not communicated to the dealers from one day to more than seven months after the denial. Auditors also found 59 transactions which the FBI approved, but should have denied. The FBI’s quality control checks caught and corrected 57 of these errors as a part of its internal controls. Appealing a Firearm Transfer Denial If you try to purchase a gun and you  receive a firearms transfer denial during the background check, you  can appeal that denial if you do not meet any of the above criteria and you believe a mistake has been made. Approximately, one percent of firearms transfers are denied and many times it because of mistaken identity or incorrect records at NICS. Therefore, many firearms transfer denial appeals are successful. Source U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division. Guide for Appealing a Firearm Transfer Denial.

Reasons You Can Be Denied a Firearm Transfer

Reasons You Can Be Denied a Firearm Transfer Since the passage of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, anyone who purchases a firearm in the United States must submit to a background check to determine if they are eligible to buy and possess a gun. Licensed gun dealers must check each person who tries to buy a firearm through the FBIs National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). When a prospective buyer wants to purchase a firearm, they must first provide the dealer with photo identification and a completed Firearms Transaction Record, or Form 4473. If the buyer answers yes to any of the questions on Form 4473, the dealer is required to deny the sale. It is a felony,  punishable by up to five years in prison, to lie when completing the form. If the buyer qualifies, the dealer will then request a NICS check. The NICS has three business days to either approve or deny the sale. If the three days pass without a NICS determination, then the dealer can process the sale of the firearm (depending on local laws) or wait until the NICS responds. On average, only about one percent of firearms transfers are denied by the NICS system, mainly because most convicted criminals already know they are not eligible to own a gun. Prohibitive Criteria for Firearm Transfers Under federal law, there are specific reasons that a firearm transfer can be denied. If you have had a firearm transfer denied, it is because you or someone else with a similar name or descriptive features has ever been: Convicted of a felonyConvicted in any court of a crime which is  punishable by a term of more than one year or a misdemeanor punishable by more than two years. This is the number one reason why requests for firearm transfers are denied.Indicted for a crime punishable by more than one yearA fugitive from justiceA user of illegal drugs or an addictInvoluntarily committed to a mental institutionAn illegal alienDishonorably discharged from the armed forcesRenounced your U.S. citizenshipSubject to a restraining order for threatening a family memberConvicted of domestic violenceUnder an  indictment, but not convicted, of a crime carrying a possible year-long prison sentence State Prohibitions The NCIS can also deny a firearm transfer based on any applicable state laws. For example, if your state has a law prohibiting the possession of a specific type of firearm, the NICS can deny your transfer even though possession of that firearm is not prohibited by federal law. The Brady Law was designed to make sure that only law-abiding citizens can purchase and own firearms, but critics claim that the law only created a huge black-market demand for illegal guns sales to criminals. NCIS Accuracy In September 2016 the Department of Justices Office of the Inspector General performed an audit to check the FBIs quality control of NICS transactions. They selected 447 denied transactions and found that only one transaction was incorrectly denied, which resulted in a 99.8 percent accuracy rate. Next, the auditors looked at records that the FBI had denied the transaction within three business days. Out of 306 records chosen randomly, 241 were processed by the FBI appropriately. However, six of the transactions were denied internally by the FBI, but the denial was not communicated to the dealers from one day to more than seven months after the denial. Auditors also found 59 transactions which the FBI approved, but should have denied. The FBI’s quality control checks caught and corrected 57 of these errors as a part of its internal controls. Appealing a Firearm Transfer Denial If you try to purchase a gun and you  receive a firearms transfer denial during the background check, you  can appeal that denial if you do not meet any of the above criteria and you believe a mistake has been made. Approximately, one percent of firearms transfers are denied and many times it because of mistaken identity or incorrect records at NICS. Therefore, many firearms transfer denial appeals are successful. Source U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division. Guide for Appealing a Firearm Transfer Denial.

Reasons You Can Be Denied a Firearm Transfer

Reasons You Can Be Denied a Firearm Transfer Since the passage of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, anyone who purchases a firearm in the United States must submit to a background check to determine if they are eligible to buy and possess a gun. Licensed gun dealers must check each person who tries to buy a firearm through the FBIs National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). When a prospective buyer wants to purchase a firearm, they must first provide the dealer with photo identification and a completed Firearms Transaction Record, or Form 4473. If the buyer answers yes to any of the questions on Form 4473, the dealer is required to deny the sale. It is a felony,  punishable by up to five years in prison, to lie when completing the form. If the buyer qualifies, the dealer will then request a NICS check. The NICS has three business days to either approve or deny the sale. If the three days pass without a NICS determination, then the dealer can process the sale of the firearm (depending on local laws) or wait until the NICS responds. On average, only about one percent of firearms transfers are denied by the NICS system, mainly because most convicted criminals already know they are not eligible to own a gun. Prohibitive Criteria for Firearm Transfers Under federal law, there are specific reasons that a firearm transfer can be denied. If you have had a firearm transfer denied, it is because you or someone else with a similar name or descriptive features has ever been: Convicted of a felonyConvicted in any court of a crime which is  punishable by a term of more than one year or a misdemeanor punishable by more than two years. This is the number one reason why requests for firearm transfers are denied.Indicted for a crime punishable by more than one yearA fugitive from justiceA user of illegal drugs or an addictInvoluntarily committed to a mental institutionAn illegal alienDishonorably discharged from the armed forcesRenounced your U.S. citizenshipSubject to a restraining order for threatening a family memberConvicted of domestic violenceUnder an  indictment, but not convicted, of a crime carrying a possible year-long prison sentence State Prohibitions The NCIS can also deny a firearm transfer based on any applicable state laws. For example, if your state has a law prohibiting the possession of a specific type of firearm, the NICS can deny your transfer even though possession of that firearm is not prohibited by federal law. The Brady Law was designed to make sure that only law-abiding citizens can purchase and own firearms, but critics claim that the law only created a huge black-market demand for illegal guns sales to criminals. NCIS Accuracy In September 2016 the Department of Justices Office of the Inspector General performed an audit to check the FBIs quality control of NICS transactions. They selected 447 denied transactions and found that only one transaction was incorrectly denied, which resulted in a 99.8 percent accuracy rate. Next, the auditors looked at records that the FBI had denied the transaction within three business days. Out of 306 records chosen randomly, 241 were processed by the FBI appropriately. However, six of the transactions were denied internally by the FBI, but the denial was not communicated to the dealers from one day to more than seven months after the denial. Auditors also found 59 transactions which the FBI approved, but should have denied. The FBI’s quality control checks caught and corrected 57 of these errors as a part of its internal controls. Appealing a Firearm Transfer Denial If you try to purchase a gun and you  receive a firearms transfer denial during the background check, you  can appeal that denial if you do not meet any of the above criteria and you believe a mistake has been made. Approximately, one percent of firearms transfers are denied and many times it because of mistaken identity or incorrect records at NICS. Therefore, many firearms transfer denial appeals are successful. Source U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division. Guide for Appealing a Firearm Transfer Denial.

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Parallel Structure Exercises

Parallel Structure Exercises Parallel Structure Exercises Parallel Structure Exercises By Mark Nichol Previous posts on this website have discussed syntactical errors that result in a lack of grammatical balance between equivalent words and phrases; this post lists the various types of mistakes that lead to flawed parallel structure. You are invited to fix each sentence before reading the explanation. Absence of One Word Most sentences with faulty parallel structure merely lack one word that, once added, repairs the damaged equivalence. The multiple examples in this section illustrate an array of problematic sentence constructions. 1. More diverse corporate leadership will lead to better decision-making and products and services that are more relevant to customers. The adjective better refers only to decision-making, not to products and services, which share a distinct phrase that, like better, qualifies a benefit; inserting to before those terms to match the preposition preceding â€Å"better decision-making† clarifies that the sentence has a compound predicate: â€Å"More diverse corporate leadership will lead to better decision-making and to products and services that are more relevant to customers.† This problem also occurs in sentences that feature an in-line list (a succession of equivalent words or phrases, set off by identical punctuation marks, that appear within the horizontal structure of a sentence rather than being formatted vertically, like items on a shopping list). Often, a compound predicate is mistaken for an in-line list, which requires insertion of a supporting conjunction and deletion of an intrusive punctuation mark. 2. Crowds fled in panic, taking shelter in shops, hotels, or leaping off the elevated pavement onto the beach below. This sentence is formatted as a list, implying that people employed one of three methods to escape danger- resorting to shops, hotels, or the beach. However, only two survival strategies were employed: taking shelter in one of two types of business establishments, or leaping onto the beach. The sentence, therefore, must be slightly revised to refer collectively to shops and hotels as two examples of the implied category â€Å"structures in which to seek refuge†: â€Å"Crowds fled in panic, taking shelter in shops or hotels or leaping off the elevated pavement onto the beach below.† 3. The contraception app has become a popular alternative because it doesnt involve taking any medicines, inserting devices, or hormone patches. Here, the three alternative contraception methods must be treated with the same structural support- because verbs accompany medicines and devices, â€Å"hormone patches† requires equivalent treatment: â€Å"The contraception app has become a popular alternative because it doesnt involve taking any medicines, inserting devices, or using hormone patches.† 4. Those complaints ranged from water dripping from ceilings and walls, gas leaks, electrical shorts, and stopped-up toilet bowls- or no toilet bowls at all. Often, a â€Å"from . . . to† construction is flawed because in the assembly, to has been omitted, but it is required to complete the equivalence: â€Å"Those complaints ranged from water dripping from ceilings and walls to gas leaks, electrical shorts, and stopped-up toilet bowls- or no toilet bowls at all.† (Note that no punctuation interrupts the from . . . to continuum; this is true even if to is employed more than once.) Better yet, however, when the order of words or phrases in the list does not obviously express an ascending significance, employ a simple list structure that omits from and to: â€Å"Those complaints included water dripping from ceilings and walls, gas leaks, electrical shorts, and stopped-up toilet bowls- or no toilet bowls at all.† Incorrect Word Order The sequence of words, rather than an absence of words, can impede logical syntax. 5. Employers frequently have resource needs, both as part of digital-transformation initiatives and other projects. â€Å"As part of† applies only to â€Å"digital-transformation initiatives,† not to the corresponding phrase â€Å"other projects,† so â€Å"as part of† must be repeated before the latter phrase: â€Å"Employers frequently have resource needs, both as part of digital-transformation initiatives and as part of other projects.† Better yet, simply transpose both and â€Å"as part of† so that the phrase applies to both corresponding phrases: â€Å"Employers frequently have resource needs, as part of both digital-transformation initiatives and other projects.† Absence of One Word and Incorrect Word Order Sometimes, a sentence is flawed in both respects. 6. The cynic in me believes it’s rarely done for aesthetic reasons but for strictly commercial ones. This sentence requires a counterpoint to rarely, and because that adverb and its opposite must share the verb done, the verb must precede both adverbs: â€Å"The cynic in me believes it’s done rarely for aesthetic reasons but often for strictly commercial ones.† Insertion of Extraneous Word Here, a superfluous repetition of a preposition disrupts a sentence’s parallel structure. 7. These processes can be used to evaluate internal controls to prevent and detect drug diversion in inpatient and outpatient pharmacies, research facilities, and in clinical and procedural areas. Repeating the preposition in before each example of a place where drug diversion can occur is a valid (but unnecessary) alternative to allowing a single iteration to support the entire list, but this sentence is flawed in that it does not succeed in applying either choice- either â€Å"research facilities† must be preceded by in, or, as shown here, the instance of the preposition before the final list item can be omitted: â€Å"These processes can be used to evaluate internal controls to prevent and detect drug diversion in inpatient and outpatient pharmacies, research facilities, and clinical and procedural areas.† Incorrect Inflectional Form Occasionally, the error is the wrong inflectional form of a word, rather than omission of a necessary word or insertion of an extraneous one. 8. It has chosen to reach settlements rather than levying civil monetary penalties in all but the rarest of cases. Here, to match the bare inflectional form reach, levying must be pared down to levy: â€Å"It has chosen to reach settlements rather than levy civil monetary penalties in all but the rarest of cases.† Misuse of â€Å"As Well As† The phrase â€Å"as well as† is often misunderstood to be a conjunction. 9. This type of assessment helps further inform management’s overall risk tolerance, target fit, valuation assessments, as well as the overall strength of the target. â€Å"As well as† is not equivalent to and or or, so when the last item of an in-line list is preceded by that phrase, rephrase the sentence so that â€Å"as well as† and what follows constitute a clause separate from the list (and insert a conjunction before what is now the final list item): â€Å"This type of assessment helps further inform management’s overall risk tolerance, target fit, and valuation assessments, as well as aiding in measuring the overall strength of the target.† Alternatively, do so but replace â€Å"as well as† with an additional conjunction (â€Å"This type of assessment helps further inform management’s overall risk tolerance, target fit, and valuation assessments and aids in measuring the overall strength of the target†) or incorporate the clause into the list (â€Å"This type of assessment helps further inform management’s overall risk tolerance, target fit, valuation assessments, and measure of the t arget’s overall strength†). Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Definitely use "the" or "a"â€Å"As Well As† Does Not Mean â€Å"And†Dealing With A Character's Internal Thoughts

Sunday, February 16, 2020

Final Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Final - Case Study Example The employees in many of such organizations feel that co-operating the concept of self managed work team is analogous with the assistance of their own execution. â€Å"The concept of self-managed work teams is also opposed by the supervisors of many organizations who do not intend to become the facilitators†. The self managed work team violates the principal of unit of command. Studies and organizational behavior theories have proved that there is contradiction in the effectiveness of the self-managed work teams. Such a situation could also be highlighted from the case when Knowlton was not able to align himself with the objectives of the whole team after Feaster arrived and began showing his superiority in the subject matter and research worked by the team. It should also be noted that in the meeting with the sponsors of the research, except the departmental heads, bosses and supervisors only Feaster was the only employee that was invited for the meeting and was asked to give presentation about the proceedings of the research. Even though he had been an active participant in the research since his joining, other employees were also the part of the project and had been working on the same for much longer period them him. It is also observed that employees working as a part of self-manage d work teams have high attrition rate and absenteeism then the people working in a conventional work groups. Fester’s role in the organization was determined by largely his personality. From the day he was appointed to the team and project, he was dedicated and excited to complete the research. He started getting in close connection with the Link, the mathematician of the group spending time discussing the method of analysis of the patterns that link had been worrying about over the past few months. He tried to understand the concept on which they were

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Preventing of Gouty Arthritis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Preventing of Gouty Arthritis - Essay Example This directed the need to study prophylaxis with colchicines for different durations. This article reviews the trial conducted to study different duration of colchicines for preventing recurrence of Gouty arthritis and critique the methodologies used and recommends areas of future research. Colchicine is used for prophylaxis treatment against recurrent attacks of gout. But the most suitable duration of its administration for gouty arthritis needs to be assessed. The researchers in this study have hypothesized three regimens of dosage that can be beneficial to the patients without causing any harm. All patients were treated with allopurinol to lower the level of uric acid stored in the joints and randomly divided into three groups, the dosage of drug was kept constant (1mg/day) in all the groups but the period of treatment differed in every group ranging from 3-6 months (group 1), 7-9 months (group 2),10-12 months (group 3). The study did not include a placebo group. All the groups under study belong to the same age group of people all were in their 50's also since statistics have confirmed for every 7-9 male affected there will be 1 female affected that accounts to be 3% of women, hence few women are included in the study just about 3 % in all groups. The normal upper limit of serum uric acid is 7mg/dl in men and 6 mg/dl in women. A change in uric acid level is one of the predisposing factors for recurrence of acute gouty arthritis hence all the patients selected for the study have a mean uric acid level of 8.5 (mg/dl). For detecting similarity between patients of each group they were divided to two subgroups; with recurrence of arthritis or without any episode of arthritis, and mean level of serum uric acid and age were compared using T-test the difference was insignificant. Thus the researchers have taken care of carefully dividing the groups and the groups are