Questions tagged [software]
For questions involving programming underlying computers and machines. Consider using the [open-source-software] tag if the question is about open source software or licensing.
729
questions
0
votes
1answer
47 views
Is code on Github safe against US claims?
I run a smaller non-US company producing hardware-related code. Since the code is hardware related I might patent it (the entire system) outside US at some time.
I want to use Github to store my code ...
0
votes
0answers
21 views
combining a specific license with a wide license
A directory contains a program's source code, a file named "LICENSE" that indicates that the program is licensed under license A, and a library ("lib.c") containing license B. A is ...
0
votes
1answer
36 views
If a paper under the CC BY-SA 4.0 describes & designs a software X & its implications, does said software must be under a compatible license?
Let's say I wrote a paper which describes & designs a software and its implications, and I license it under the CC BY-SA 4.0. If some else (or me) writes said software, does it need to be in a ...
1
vote
1answer
112 views
Are Software Developers Responsible for Deaths Because of the Developed System?
I want to learn some responsibilities of software developers. For example, if I am coding on self driving cars's systems and one day the car causes the death of someone who is responsible of that? Am ...
-2
votes
2answers
108 views
How can start working with lawyers in need? NOT ADVERTISEMENT
I'm genuinely trying to understand where I could help the most and what problems my skills could be applied to that lawyers are fighting with on the daily. This is my first question on here and if it'...
-2
votes
1answer
47 views
Can a business allow employees to use their own developed software for work as a way to protect its proprietary software?
Can a business allow employees to use their own software for work as a way to make sure that if the company has to declare bankruptcy and sell all its assets, then it can hide its proprietary software ...
1
vote
1answer
34 views
How to know if parts of a design are legal to use?
I paid a designer to create some backgrounds for me which I will use in a paid mobile app. This is the first time I pay a designer to do something for me so I am very new to this. He said he used ...
1
vote
0answers
47 views
MS Edge synthetised voice audio ownership
I want to make Youtube video about my commercial product (software) with synthetised voice narration. Microsoft Edge browser (part of W10) has ability to read text aloud by various online (natural) ...
0
votes
1answer
46 views
Automatically updating a Steam user profile
Is it legal to automatically update a user profile on Valve's Steam network?
I looked through the subscriber and privacy agreements, but couldn't really find anything precise enough about it (or I ...
0
votes
1answer
79 views
Is it legal to migrate data from old software to new software?
I'm wondering about the legality of migrating data between two competitor software, particularly for this purpose. Customer buys new software and want to migrate their old data.
Is it legal for the ...
0
votes
1answer
74 views
Enforcing the GPL license on software
I published a software project under the GNU Affero General Public License version 3.0. I have written the code behind it, hence I am the copyright holder.
According to the AGPL license, anyone who ...
0
votes
1answer
60 views
How can I exclude any rights for my own software projects from the contract?
I'm about to sign a long terms terms contract for software development and maintenance.
This job implies working with several applications and creating new ones. It seems to be difficult to put all of ...
3
votes
1answer
49 views
File copyright header after copyright transfer
It's a common practice to put a copyright header into each file like Copyright 2020 The Company Ltd. All rights reserved where the year is the year the file got created (and not last updated).
How ...
8
votes
1answer
3k views
Who owns the software created by a dissolved startup company?
A theoretical company existed which used to be registered in the United Kingdom and has since been dissolved.
The company was a SaaS(Software as a service) company.
The code was written by Person A, ...
1
vote
1answer
97 views
Is it legal to use third-party apps to bypass Apple's Activation Lock?
I have a used iPad in my possession but can't use it due to Apple's Activation Lock. To prevent theft of Apple's devices, Activation Lock requires an ID and password in order to use the device. While ...
0
votes
0answers
41 views
What is the legality of creating a messenger application with end-to-end encryption in Autralia?
The encrypted messages will be stored in the server, but no one will be able to decode them except the users.
What is the legality of creating a messenger application with end-to-end encryption for ...
0
votes
0answers
19 views
App Privacy Policy - Email collection
I have a contact button in a mobile application that when clicked prompts the user to select an email application (Gmail for example) and send me email.
Does that mean that i collect emails ?
I mean, ...
0
votes
1answer
60 views
How can software theft ever be proven if a company has a right to keep its software closed source?
Party A (not necessarily a company) writes software. The software can be open source or closed source, I'm not sure it matters for the sake of this argument. Party A has license terms on their ...
9
votes
1answer
292 views
Who owns the right to the code generated by GitHub Copilot?
This question was somewhat inspired by this Meta SO question
I found this other question... but that is more general.
When someone uses GitHub Copilot does the person that is using the tool own the ...
0
votes
0answers
30 views
The license of auto-generated source-code
I have a C# application released under BSD 2-clause license. This application takes an XML file (MIT licensed) describing a software interface and generates the said interface as C# code. What license ...
2
votes
1answer
162 views
Is it legal to make encryption breaking technology public?
Much of our critical infrastructure relies on encryption as the bedrock of its security. Encryption, however, is a practically a "very hard" mathematical problem that will take eternity to ...
0
votes
0answers
34 views
If someone reading a computer programming text book types an example program into a computer, who owns it and how can it be used? [duplicate]
A bit of a follow up to If you create something by following a YouTube tutorial, who owns it?
Often times a book that teaches computer programing contains code snippets that the reader is intended to ...
0
votes
2answers
158 views
Is my programming knowledge contaminated?
We know that ideas are not copyrightable (except for patent related issues), but expressions are (idea–expression dichotomy). However, after reading about clean room design, I got somewhat confused. ...
1
vote
1answer
43 views
If commercial use is not mentioned in a software license like BSD, is it implied to freely do so?
BSD talks mostly about redistribution and doesn't even mention commercial use or something like "for any purpose". Therefore they don't need to explicitly state "commercial use is ...
0
votes
1answer
62 views
Using software api documentation without copyright infringement
I've been starting to worry about the details of software copyright. This brought up the question whether using source code from an official documentation, that is copyrighted as usual, is actually ...
4
votes
2answers
125 views
Does the recent EU court ruling allowing decompilation of lawfully purchased software for bugfixes permit removing game DRM if it slows down the game?
The EU court recently ruled that the EU copyright directive:
Article 5(1) of Directive 91/250 must be interpreted as meaning that the lawful purchaser of a computer program is entitled to decompile ...
0
votes
1answer
39 views
Can I impose the requirement of a paid license if and only if my software is offered as a service?
I'm getting ready to open source a project that facilitates the deployment, maintenance, and orchestration of data platforms on just about any architecture (locally, on any cloud of your choosing, on ...
0
votes
0answers
52 views
Can recursive acronyms for projects consist trademark brands?
Example of known recursive acronyms:
GNU - GNU's Not Unix
Linux - Linux Is Not Unix
Can you use similar approach by including into your project name the letters from major registered trademark ...
1
vote
0answers
53 views
Same name, same class, totally different products
Let's assume the following situation:
A company X produces devices used in some niche industry. It has a US trademark Z registered in IC9 category (class 9).
A company Y creates and sells a software ...
0
votes
0answers
40 views
Do I own the copyright of a source code if I work only part of it as a freelancer
If a group of freelancers work on a project without a contract from the client(this one refuses to pay), who own the copyright of that source code? I know in the US, one who write the code own the ...
0
votes
2answers
51 views
What happens if there is no formal agreement between two app developers
Suppose two people, A and B, developed an ios app together doing equal amounts of work.
Suppose that they don't have any written agreements and never registered a company. A registered himself as an ...
3
votes
0answers
36 views
Do I own the code I write for analysis and applications using Google Earth Engine?
The terms of service for Google Earth Engine has the following sections:
7.4 Termination for Convenience. Customer may stop using the Services at any time with or without notice. Customer may ...
4
votes
2answers
372 views
Is "cheating" in offline, single-player games illegal?
I understand there are laws like the Circumvention of Technological Measure (CTM), Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). According to these laws it's considered ...
2
votes
2answers
42 views
Common Practices around Incorporating License Agreements by Reference
As part of my job, I help to negotiate contracts when my company is purchasing software (or hardware with embedded software). For these significant business relationships, we typically negotiate a ...
1
vote
0answers
36 views
Restrictions on addictive design in software
Are there any restrictions on what a software can actually do design-wise?
A comparison to make here, for example, is that casinos have to inform their patrons of the dangers of gambling, or they have ...
2
votes
2answers
109 views
Is it legal to reimplement iOS algorithm/framework on Android?
I'm a software developer with experience in CoreImage - very powerful native iOS/OSX framework for image processing. I admire its efficiency, understand how it works internally and want to roughly ...
0
votes
0answers
20 views
Should I include/mention licenses of dependencies of 3rd party software used by my software?
I have a project that depends on numerous 3rd party libraries. Each library is shipped with a license file. These I automatically copy to the deployment folder, where the compiled files are (my own ...
1
vote
1answer
113 views
How far can a program's user interface be copied before it becomes copyright infringement?
I want to create a program, to be specific, it's an IDE (Integrated Development Environment i.e.: a program that people can use to create programs, write code etc...)
The features I want to implement, ...
12
votes
1answer
891 views
Is an email enumeration vulnerability a breach of GDPR?
I'm a software engineer and I'm often asked to implement version of a user signup flow or login that can be summarised as follows:
User inputs their email
If the email belongs to an existing user, ...
11
votes
4answers
2k views
Does derivative works law allow someone to create a new work based on an old one as long as they make modifications?
How can I find out if extracting Microsoft Word 2019 thesaurus (for another person by a freelancer) is legal or (very likely) not?
I tried searching in Google, but this question seems to be not very ...
0
votes
1answer
69 views
Can I develop open source software to parse a copyrighted document for private use?
I obtained a foreign language dictionary in PDF format, whose copyright information states the following:
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part
of ...
1
vote
2answers
87 views
Is a retroactive patent infringement possible?
A software researcher (from an American university) published a new method/algorithm and then an implementation of it, licensed under the MIT license. I wrote to him to ask if he had filed a patent or ...
0
votes
1answer
95 views
Selling software internationally and taxes
I'm about to go crazy due to the amount of information I have explored on this matter and still I have no answers. Anyone with at least some knowledge, please share it.
My case is very simple (I think)...
0
votes
1answer
48 views
How to protect IP for product being developed outside company hours and resources
Suppose that a person is a data scientist employed by the data analytics arm of an auto maker.Suppose this person is continuing my old research and developing a software product:
outside of company ...
1
vote
1answer
90 views
Is it legal to decompile Apple Open Source components?
I want to write a blogpost / record a screencast about macOS opensource components. I was going to decompile those opensource components and I am not sure if it would be legal. MacOS software license ...
0
votes
1answer
37 views
What means non-commercial and commecial use of software? (Question with examples)
Have a laptop with OS GNU Linux with many kinda of software: browsers, text tools, players, system tools, IDE's. I use it in home no for working: for reading news watching YouTube, learning, creating ...
2
votes
1answer
140 views
Is it a breach of privacy law in Australia if schools track student device usage at home?
Since I usually only use programming Stack Exchange sites, sorry if I do anything wrong in this post.
My school recently installed software on all student devices (owned by the school) which can track ...
0
votes
0answers
43 views
Is using Free apps in commercial services allowed by Google Play ToS?
Here are parts of the Terms of Service I find to be relevant:
Free Content. Google may allow you to download, view or use Content free of charge on Google Play. Additional limitations may apply to ...
0
votes
1answer
101 views
Using JetBrains Student license to develop a commercial product that is in developpement
I was just wondering if a student user would be able to use JetBrains Student license to develop a commercial product that is still not released and where the company is still not created?
Text of ...
1
vote
1answer
19 views
Which licenses are most applicable for themes within a web app?
Suppose a developer is building a hosted web app which lets people use prebuilt themes on their websites. They can select and apply a theme, and they can also view and edit the HTML, CSS, and ...
