ITS 321 - Legal and Ethical Issues in Information Technology

Review for Second Test

The following questions are provided to help you study for the test. Do not expect to see these exact questions.

1. What are the three tests from the Miller v. California case that might determine whether material is obscene?
   
   How many of the tests must be "true" for the material to be judged obscene?
   
   Does it seem to you that any of the three tests are harder to prove than the others?
   
   
2. According to the definition in the text, what are tests of whether a declaration is defamation?
   
   
3. What is the difference between slander and libel?
   
   
4. Why was the Child Online Protection Act ruled unconstitutional? What should this mean for legislators seeking to write similar laws?
   
   
5. Does internet filtering constitute a restraint on free speech? Why or why not?
   
   
6. What law requires libraries to protect children from obscenity, pornography, and harmful material if they want to get funding?
   
   
7. Which amendment to the constitution addresses free speech? Does it guarantee anonymous free speech?
   
   
8. Explain the limits on web sites that indulge in hate speech.
   
   
9. How does the text define intellectual property?
   
   
10. Explain how copyright law forbids me from making a new Star Wars movie that falls between episodes three and four.
    
    Name two ways I might be allowed to show you clips from a copyrighted film without getting permission from the copyright owner.
    
    
11. What is the U.S. Code, and where can you find it?
    
    
12. What U.S. government office issues copyrights?
    
    
13. How is a patent different from a copyright? What must be true about a work to make it patentable?
    
    
14. Name three categories of concepts that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled cannot be patented.
    
    
15. What are the four tests of fair use of copyrighted material?
    
    
16. How does defensive publishing protect your ideas from patent trolls?
    
    
17. Explain the difference between patent trolling and patent farming.
    
    
18. A trade secret does not have the same red tape that a patent or a copyright does. What are the two requirements that a trade secret holder must meet to maintain the validity of the trade secret?
    
    
19. What is a nondisclosure agreement, and which kind of IP discussed in the text does it most apply to?
    
    
20. When are you allowed and not allowed by law to use reverse engineering?
    
    
21. Compare competitive intelligence to industrial espionage. What is an essential difference that makes the former lawful and the latter unlawful?
    
    
22. Why is successive prototyping recommended in software development? What human relations problem does it attempt to overcome?
    
    
23. What is the outcome in requiring a software project to be both fast and cheap? How about requiring that it be good and cheap? What is the problem with being fast and good?
    
    
24. What is the critical element in a strict liability trial, as opposed to other types?
    
    
25. What is the essence of the government contractor defense? What about the supervening event defense?
    
    
26. If a entity is being sued for negligence, what does it mean for them to introduce proof of contributory negligence?
    
    
27. What is an implied warranty of merchantability?