Your statement that "If a law isn't enforced people will not take the time to understand it" is true and points to the true problem with copyright violations. The problem is and always has been, a issue of people. Technology has been nothing but an enabler, much the way automobiles are a faster mode of transportation than walking. The solution to this is Training, Awareness, Proactive Auditing and following through with Punitive Action for violations within your organization. If you have good strong policies in place, it will not prevent the infraction but it will provide some protection from outside litigation and a venue for dismissal of employees who do violate those policies. Combine these pieces together and you have the framework for solving your part of this picture. Robert Myles, CISSP Information Security Officer Oregon Health & Science University Mail Code AD140 2525 SW 1st Avenue Portland, OR 97201 Tel: 503-494-8500 Fax: 503-494-8850 Cell: 503-329-9972 mylesr@private >>> Lyle Leavitt <lylel@private> 3/15/2002 2:41:11 AM >>> I have dealt with these issues though out my career. This is an age old problem which has exploded along with internet access. Few people understand the copyright or piracy laws of this country. All of them are broken on a daily basis often unintentionally. If a law isn't enforced people will not take the time to understand it. For example, the "Hollywood vs. High Tech.htm" file attachment in this email is copyright protected and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of The New York Times Company. I doubt that prior written permission was granted for distribution to this group. The proper thing to have done is include a small segment from the article with a URL link to the complete article at the New York Times Online. It was probably much faster to just do an attachment. Even if there were police on the "information super highway" this would not made it on their radar screen. They would have been to busy chasing after the 1000 guys in China with a downloadable copy of Microsoft XP. Like viruses, I don't see and end to this problem. -Lyle
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