Respond 10
Question 1
Does trademark, patent, or copyright infringement really hurt anyone? Why or why not? Explain your position and provide examples.
Respond to this… Infringements really can hurt a company or person. Infringements could cause companies to lose revenue. Infringements on trademarks can confuse consumers (Lau & Johnson, p. 168) . The company with the trademark could wind up losing money because their consumers may think they are purchasing something from one company; but they are purchasing from someone else. A patent infringement could cause a company to lose revenue because someone else is making, using or selling their patented product (Lau & Johnson, p. 158). A person may lose money from copyright infringement because someone else is using their work and making money. These infringements are making money for someone else instead of the person that has the trademark, patent or copyright.
I hear about how singers making music that has the same sound as another and that song has turned into a big money-making hit. The original artist that created that sound sues for copyright infringement. A couple of artists that were sued in 2016 for copyright infringement include Ed Sheeran for his song Photograph that has a similarity to a song released by British singer Matt Cardie (Petit, 2016). Beyoncé is being sued for stealing a trailer from a short film title Palinoia that Beyoncé used for her album Lemonade (Petit, 2016).
Lau, T., & Johnson, L. (n.d.). The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business. Flatworld Knowledge.
Petit, S. (2016, June 9). Ed Sheeran Faces $20 Million Copyright Lawsuit Over 'Photograph'. Retrieved from People Celebrity: http://people.com/celebrity/ed-sheeran-faces-20-million-copyright-lawsuit-over-photograph/
Question 2
In your own words, explain Benford's law. Give some examples of situations where it applies. Why does the law seem unintuitive at first glance?
Respond to this… Benford’s Law, named for physicist Frank Benford, who worked on the theory in 1938,3 is the mathematical theory of leading digits. Specifically, in data sets, the leading digit(s) is (are) distributed in a specific, nonuniform way. While one might think that the number 1 would appear as the first digit 11 percent of the time (i.e., one of nine possible numbers), it actually appears about 30 percent of the time . Nine, on the other hand, is the first digit less than 5 percent of the time. The theory covers the first digit, second digit, first two digits, last digit and other combinations of digits because the theory is based on a logarithm of probability of occurrence of digits.
The theory does not hold true for data sets in which digits are predisposed to begin with a limited set of digits. For instance, Benford’s Law will not hold true for data sets of human heights, human weights and intellectual quotient (IQ) scores. Another example would be small insurance claims example, between US $50 and US $100. The theory also does not hold true when a data set covers only one or two orders of magnitude.
Question 3
Conservationist Aldo Leopold was a leading advocate for the preservation of ecosystems. In his "The Land Ethic," Leopold presented his view, "A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." Current challenges to ecosystem stability and the resulting decline of biodiversity include habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, population, and overexploitation. These challenges have resulted in the decline of biodiversity worldwide.
Preserving global biodiversity is a priority in strategic conservation plans that are designed to engage public policy and concerns affecting local, regional and global scales of communities, ecosystems and cultures.
Based on what you have read; what actions do you believe should be undertaken to help preserve biodiversity?
Respond to this… I have always had visiting the Great Barrier Reef at the top of my bucket list. I am a huge ocean lover that looks forward to vacation all year long. The Great Barrier Reef has always been my idea of a graduation gift for myself. But as I get closer to that date, I watch my dream literally disappear. The Reef is being seriously effected by global warming. This once massive reef is now being "bleached" because of the warmer water. It is dying. According to National Geographic, there is over 50% mortality on the reef. This is just one consequence of the increased carbon atmosphere. I strongly believe we need to make cleaner energy a priority. If we don't,we will begin to see even more consequences than we already have.
Howard, B. (2016, March 22). Corals Are Dying on the Great Barrier Reef. Retrieved June 04, 2017, from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/03/160321-coral-bleaching-great-barrier-reef-climate-change/
