Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | User interface copyright There have been several attempts, mostly by big US software companies, to enforce patents and copyright on user interfaces. Such legal action aims to restrict the use of certain command languages or graphical user interfaces to products from one software supplier. This is undesirable because it either forces users to buy software from the company whose interface they have learned or to learn more than one interface. An analogy is often drawn with the user interface of a car - the arrangement of pedals and steering wheel etc. If each car manufacturer was forced to use a different interface this would be very bad for car users. Following a non-jury trial, which began in early January 1987, a federal judge ruled on 28 June 1990 that keyboard commands and on-screen images produced by Lotus Development Corporation's popular 1-2-3 spreadsheet are protected by copyright. Paperback Software International and subcontractor Stephenson Software Ltd. who lost the case, argued that the copyright applies only to the inner workings of the software. US District Judge Robert Keeton wrote that "The user interface of 1-2-3 is its most unique element and is the aspect that has made 1-2-3 so popular. That defendants went to such trouble to copy that element is a testament to its substantiality". Defence attorneys had argued that the Lotus commands represented "instructions for a machine rather than the expression of an idea". Soon after this decision, on 2 July 2 1990, Lotus sued Borland International and the Santa Cruz Operation for producing spreadsheets (Quattro, Quattro Pro and SCO Professional) whose interfaces could be configured to look like 1-2-3's. (1994-11-16). Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)55 53 45 52 49 4E 54 45 52 46 41 43 45 43 4F 50 59 52 49 47 48 54 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
|
Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01010101 01010011 01000101 01010010 00100000 01001001 01001110 01010100 01000101 01010010 01000110 01000001 01000011 01000101 00100000 01000011 01001111 01010000 01011001 01010010 01001001 01000111 01001000 01010100 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)U S E R   I N T E R F A C E   C O P Y R I G H T |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0055 0053 0045 0052 0049 004E 0054 0045 0052 0046 0041 0043 0045 0043 004F 0050 0059 0052 0049 0047 0048 0054 |
Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)5553395224348543952403537392374950595243414254 |
| 1. Orthography 2. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
