Question

2. For two of these topics, provide a researched example of how a real company dealt with this topic. This example can be any company that might interest you related to the issue. For example, Health care Management and Heathinformatic majors may wish to provide examples within the health care field. a. Legal b. Social c. Ethical d. Economic e. Global

Answer 1

1. LEGAL

The reason for a legal battle between the two tech giants Apple and Microsoft was the vexed question- who invented the Graphical User Interface (GUI). GUI is a way in which a computer interacts with its user with the help of icons, applications etc. The co-founder and the then Apple CEO, Steve Jobs accused Microsoft of copying the look and feel of Macintosh and Lisa, the OS designed by Apple Computers. Apple had initially agreed to license specific elements of its GUI to Microsoft for Windows 1.0. It later on went to file a lawsuit against Microsoft when the latter included some of the features (solely found in Mac) for Windoes 2.0 and its subsequent versions.

Apple listed 189 GUI elements. The court held that majority of them had already been licensed to Microsoft for use and the rest were not copyrightable. Holding the allegations baseless, the court also held that the copyright rights of the parts are restricted to original expression, which Apple had admitted to have licensed from another firm, Xerox.

The law suit was decided in favour of Microsoft on 24th August, 1993.

2. SOCIAL

Shortly after the US President, Donald Trump allowed for a a temporary ban on influx of refugees in the US, the online hospitality service giant, Airbnb telecasted an advertisement in support of the critical global issue. One of the most popular ads on the delicate matter, the commercial "We accept" focussed on the theme of accepting people no matter where they are from, who they love or worship. Already under scruitny for racial discrimination, Airbnb tried to put an end to the allegations and improve its tarnished image by putting across a strong social message that the company follows a fair and unpredujiced policy on this matter.