Name: Hassan Bin Tariq

Roll No: 16L-4400

Professional Issues in IT
Assignment # 3
Case Study 3. Lotus v. Borland
At the end of Case Lotus v. Borland I found the following questions.

Question # 1
Answer :
Both lotus & excel are actually pretty similar functionality-wise. Excel is better in the sense that
we can run a Visual basic application very easily in excel which we are not able to do on lotus.
But otherwise both have similar kind of keyboard layout, different toolbars & you can calculate
any kind of functional value from both these two programs. Personally I prefer Excel as I find it
easier & simpler to use.

Question # 2
Answer :
The court made its decision first without really knowing about what is copyright infringement so
it will have a massive impact on software industry as there will be a lot of speculation & gossips
about the honesty & decision making of the courts. It will be hard for software industries to trust
them as they have shown their incompetency. Initial favorable ruling would have different for
Borland as it would have allowed them to still be in Spreadsheet Software Business & who
knows they might have one of the most successful Spreadsheet program.

Question # 3
Answer :
If Ever I become Manager of Borland, I would try to do things the right way. I would redesign &
develop my product in a new way so that it doesn’t have any features which are copied from
other similar program. Anything illegal can draw attention of law officials & then I will have to
face court and may even end up in prison. So I will be really careful about these things.