Assignment #6 - Board Games and Computer Theft

1. Many games that children used to play on boards with dice, cards and plastic pieces are now available as computer games . Is this an example of unnecessary use of the new technology just because it is there? Describe some advantages and disadvantages of replacing a board game by computer version.

Technology has brought us so many advantages. It has made our work easier and faster. However, it has also brought many disadvantages in our lives, because we tend to rely on computers so much nowadays. And I would consider making board games with dice, cards and plastic pieces available as computer games. This is because I believe that the existence of these kinds of games gives children or the young people another reason not to socialize with others. I mean it in an indirect manner. Through it, we (in this case including I) tend to play these games on the computer because it is always available whenever and whereever we want to play, plus the fact that it never complains because it doesn't have any feelings. The things I may have mentioned may be classified as an advantage and as a disadvantage.

As I said, it is a disadvantage in our part because it leaves up having up with ourselves alone. With this, you are not making friends with other children in the community and miss so many other things. Disregarding other people's feelings and thought would also be learned from this. So, in my very own opinion, making these games available on the computer offers no advantages at all.

2. Suppose an employee uses computer time, services and storage on an employer's computer for the employee's own business. Can you consider such action as a theft? Why or why not?

The fact that it is not the computer that is owned by the employee and he or she used the computer time, services and storage for his or her own business without the permission of the employer, I would consider this action as theft. Theft in two counts. The fact that I (in this case, I am the employer) pay this certain employee to do my job, he or she still uses her time for his and his benefits alone. His or her own business would not, in any way, benefit me or the company, so this is just like the act of stealing something for me.

Reply to Intellectual Property

Thomas Jefferson and several modern writers used fire as an analogy for copying intellectual property. We can light many candles from one without diminishing the light or heat obtained from the first candle.Suppose a group of people go camping in the wilderness using primitive methods. One person gets fire started. Others want to start their fire from hers. Can you think of any ethical or practical reason why they should be expected to trade something, perhaps some wild fruit they found, for the use of fire?

Not to share what you have, especially knowing that others need it to live, would be considered selfishness. However, it would also be rude for one person just to use something without extending any gratitude for making something or giving him credit. This case of the fire is also true to the case of intellectual property rights.

So I would say that the best case would be for both of them to share something they have and work together to survive the wild, after all nobody would live alone. So it is just right to credit both parties for their contributions. It is always wise to give credit someone for what he has done. Only credit and nothing more.

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Rodolfo Eregia, Jr.
http://rejr-ofthefuture.blogspot.com

Assignment #5 - Give Me Credit!!!

1.) Your uncle owns a sandwich shop. He asks you to write an inventory program for him. You are glad to help him and do not charge for the program. The program works pretty well, and you discover later that your uncle has given copies to several friends who also operate small food shops. Do you believe you should be paid for copies?

I do believe that it is just right that I deserve proper credit for making that program. And that doesn't mean anything valuable like cash or a percent of his income, a simple thank you would do. Thank you to some person including me does alot of things. And saying thank you would mean everything to me and would make me feel that I have done something important.

2.) Read articles by Esther Dyson and Lance Rose from Wired. Write a short essay telling which author’s views about the future of intellectual property in "digital age" are more convincing to you and why.

Both authors for me has their own points in the idea that they present in their essays. However, I would say that Esther Dyson's idea is much more correct than that of Lance Rose. This is because I do believe that one must be proper compensated in everything that he had created, innovated or what he had written. Ofcourse, people only get to pay what interest him, so it is only right to market artists' works by giving others a taste of what they are going to get when they pay. This would also preserve the author's right since what would be posted in the Internet would be just a part of it, maybe an excerpt of a writing, low quality jpegs for paintings and artistic works and a trial version of a software.

Ofcourse, the use of the Internet would be judged as a bad thing for Intellectual Property Rights because production of authored works will be easier and faster due to the fact that connection between us all is available in any geographical location (Internet is even available for those austronauts on the outer space, :>). However, we can use this reality to benefit our side. One instance is the web can be used to promote our innovation and attract more possible users and customers that may benefit on the use of it.

As stated on the quote above by Robert Stallman, the real definition of Intellectual Property Rights is indeed confusing and it gets much more complicated when the property is integrated into the World Wide Web. Well, I guess one could atleast make it a little simpler when we learn to respect each other.