IT & the Law

There are no 'IT' Laws as such, but virtually all aspects of IT and software can be covered by various other Acts of Parliament under UK statutes.

The two primary articles of legislation are the Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act. These two laws cover what can and can't be stored on an information retreival system, and who can or can't have access to that information. Reading of email is covered to some degree by various parts of these two Acts and various other Privacy Acts, but the law as such is not absolutely clear on the issue and is open to some 'interpretation'.

As far as downloading is concerned, this is covered by British and international laws on Copyright, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and various other legislations.

There are also other laws which impinge to a greater or lesser degree on IT. These can include (but are not limited to) the Prevention of Terrorism Act, Sexual Offences and Indecency Acts.

Then, there are other issues which although not strictly 'legally enforcable', are covered by such instruments as End User Licence Agreements (EULA's) and software licencing.

It must be said though, that there are many grey areas where certain aspects of the law can be bent, abused and generally disregarded. It then becomes company or organisational policy as to how these areas are treated.

For example, Microshaft would have you believe that their EULA's are legally binding in every corner of the globe, but in fact over 80% of Microsoft software in use today is actually NOT covered by a legitimate licence. I can almost guarantee that out of every 100 client computers I deal with, probably 90 of the owners do not have a Certificate of Authenticity or even a genuine CD for their Microsoft OS's.

I have several computers at home and I will admit that one or two of them run 'cloned' software. However, no-one else uses any of these computers, apart from me, and so I am not breaking any aspect of a 'single user' licence. Nor am I breaking the 'OEM' aspect of the licence. I built the computers myself so I am the 'OEM'. Now as for installing ONE copy on ONE computer at any one time, it could be said I am breaking that part of the licence, HOWEVER, I am allowed (under the terms of the licences) to make backup copies of the software for my own personal use. Now we all know that (for example) a Windows 98 CD is 'no use' and cannot be used as an OS until it is installed, configured and the drivers added, the registry has been set up and the system is stable. That is to say, a Windows 98 CD 'in itself' is NOT an 'operating' system, just the means to set one up. Backing up the installed, configured and tested OS onto another drive constitutes a perfectly 'legal' backup copy for my own personal use. It may be argued that installing this drive into a second computer is then breaking the terms of the licence agreement. I will argue that a 'system backup' comprising of the software AND hardware, in such a way that if my computer fails, I can just press a button and carry on using my 'backup' machine with the absolute minimum of 'downtime' doesn't break this agreement...AS LONG AS I AM NOT USING THE TWO MACHINES SIMULTANEOUSLY!!!!

Of course, if Microsoft then want to get jiggy with me, the onus is on them to PROVE that I am using the two machines simultaneously (which I don't, but I MUST have the ability to carry on working with MINIMUM disruption in case one machine 'craps out')in such a way that I am breaking their licence agreements.

Now Microsoft and YOU, Gentle Reader (to quote Asimov!), may see things differently, and in the US, things MAY be different, but I will argue that under UK law, with it's 'fragmented' legislation as it stands, what I am doing is perfectly legal.

In addition to this, I reserve the right to 'test' my 'backup' on a regular basis. What use is a backup that cannot be relied on. Naturally, when I'm 'testing and verifying' my backup, this will include making any changes which have been made on the primary system, including driver updates, software tweaks and Windows Update. But....and this is the point on which I argue my case (m'lud!), while I am configuring my 'backup', I am not sat at my other computer.

Of course, if the primary computer fails and I resort to my 'backup', my backup then becomes my primary computer. The ex-primary then undergoes repair, and has the drive replaced (if necessary) or formatted. Meanwhile, I continue working on my new primary, until the 'former primary' is up to speed, at which time it then becomes my 'backup'....

well, you get the picture!