9.9. Key Terms

Chapter 9 

Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO): A patent will only be granted if the invention or process being submitted meets certain conditions.(9.4)

Code of Ethics or Professional Conduct: Is a document that outlines a set of acceptable behaviors for a professional or social group; generally, it is agreed to by all members of the group. (9.2)

Copyright: The protection given to songs, computer programs, books, and other creative works. Any work that has an “author” can be copyrighted. (9.3)

Copyright Act: To help copyright owners deal with online copyright infringement (e.g. illegal downloading) so that they can protect their copyright material while respecting the interests and freedom of users. (9.3)

Creative Commons: A nonprofit organization that provides legal tools for artists and authors. The tools offered make it simple to license artistic or literary work for others to use or distribute in a manner consistent with the author’s intentions. Creative Commons copyrights allow for less restrictive rules than traditional copyright. (9.3)

Digital Divide: The gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology, and those that don’t or have restricted access. Newly defined stages of the digital divide defined by Jakob Nielsen include the economic divide, the usability divide and the empowerment divide. (9.6)

Ethics: A set of moral principles or the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group. (9.2)

Ethical System: A set of moral principles” or “the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group. (9.2)

Fair Use: A limitation on copyright law that allows for the use of protected works without prior authorization in specific cases. (9.3)

Intellectual Property (IP): A n idea, invention, or process that derives from the work of the mind or intellect is assigned to designated owners by law. (9.3)

Internet Censorship: is the control of information accessible on the internet by governments and businesses. (9.7)

License on Transfer (LOT): Network is a global organization working collaboratively to reduce the risk of lawsuits from patent trolls.(9.4)

Non-fungible Tokens (NFT’s): tokenize digital files by creating a digital certificate on the blockchain so that they are unique and owned and cannot be reproduced like other digital files.

Patent: Set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention. (9.4)

Patent Trolling. A patent troll is a person or organization who gains the rights to a patent but does not actually make the invention that the patent protects. Instead, the patent troll searches for those who are illegally using the invention in some way and sues them. (9.4)

Personally Identifiable Information (PI): Information about a person that can be used to uniquely establish that person’s identity (9.5)

Privacy: The ability to control information about oneself. (9.5)

Telecommuting: (or telework) and remote work refer to work performed at a remote location (home or other space) by virtue of an electronic connection and can encompass a variety of employment types. (9.7)

Trademark: A word, phrase, logo, shape or sound that identifies a source of goods or services. (9.4)

Website Cookies: Small files sent by websites to users’ computers, usually without knowledge or specific consent. Cookies can be used to personalize a website, remember users’ preferences, and retain products in electronic shopping carts. (9.5)

Adapted from Information Systems for Business and Beyond Glossary by Ruth Guthrie licensed under a CC-BY-3.0