Legal Question in Technology Law in New York

Disable unauthorized program via Internet

I work on a computer program that was established well before the Internet became widespread. Our contracts do not specifically address the Internet. But we do refer to the general privacy of our users.

I want to create a hidden feature that can access our website to determine if the user is authorized. The website will maintain a list of unauthorized licenses. Without being too specific, the license is like a one of a kind product code. Unless the company with whom we have the contract reports the license is missing, we might never know.

If the user is not authorized:

1) the website logs the date/time.

2) (at our option) disable the license from the user�s side to prevent the program from being used in the future. No user data or user property would be destroyed. We may tell the user this occurred.

Users can already enable/disable other features that access the Internet. There will be no way to disable this feature. On the other hand, I could make it so took a certain number of mouse clicks to turn off the feature, not hidden but not easily accessible.

Based on this info would any laws be broken? Is it legal to use the person�s Internet connection without their knowledge?

Thanks!


Asked on 3/08/07, 2:16 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Johm Smith tom's

Re: Disable unauthorized program via Internet

You would be safest describing this in your Terms of Service or Licensing Agreement. That way everything is clear. If you don't want to do that, then this type of thing happens all the time; Microsoft's Vista now terminates access to verified illegal copies of their software. But an attorney would advise a little research to be able to give you the precise details of the law. My firm focuses on Internet and entertainment law.

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Answered on 3/08/07, 2:39 pm
William Frenkel Frenkel Sukhman LLP

Re: Disable unauthorized program via Internet

Without having the specifics of how this feature would work and knowing what your privacy policy says, I would say that informing your users of your policy of checking for licenses and disabling access to unauthorized users would be a good idea. Software licensors often require authentication (online as well as off-line) to gain access or functionality but typically make it clear to their users that it is a required step. Have the whole process (and not just the idea) ran by your Internet legal counsel to determine its legality.

The above reply is in the nature of general information, is not legal advice and should not be relied on as such.

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Answered on 3/08/07, 2:44 pm


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