Intellectual property rights can
be defined as the rights given to peoples over the creations of their minds
.They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his creations
for a certain period of time .This includes copyrights and related rights,
trademarks, geographical indication, industrial designs, patents, integrated
circuits layout designs and protection of undisclosed.
Therefore in order to protect the
interest of both the marketers and consumers and to prevent the misuse of
trademarks, the Government enacted the trade and merchandise Marks Act, 1958 .To meet its obligations as a
signatory to the WTO agreement, India has substantially amended its existing
Trade Marks Act .The old Trade & Merchandise Marks Act 1958 is being repealed and a new Trade Marks Act 1999 has been passed by the parliament.
Today, such unfair practices are not confined to traditional like books
and magazines; it even extends to software, one of the most valuable
technologies of the Information age .Software is an essential element to run a
computer .Unfortunately, it is easy for the computer to create an exact copy of
valuable software in seconds .Music industry is worried because individuals can
illegally copy MP3 music files to web sites where they can downloaded by others
who do not know that the MP3 files are not licensed for copying or
distribution.
Thus,
software piracy is widespread from individual computer users to professionals
.Piracy exists in homes, schools, business and Government .Software pirates not
only steal from the companies that make the software, but they will also be
able to develop new software with less money for research and development. That
is why all software piracy is treated illegal .As the number of PCs and
Internet use grow, the incidence of software piracy is also increasing.
Software piracy refer to the unauthorized duplication of computer
software .Although most computer users of today know that unauthorized use and
duplication of software is illegal, many of them ignore the importance of
treating software as valuable intellectual property .Foll0wing ethical, social
and political issues are raised in connection with intellectual property.
Information
technology also create certain social issues .Stealing and copying of software
is become almost like social custom and people are not much bothered about the
violation of various laws exiting in the country to protect software .Almost
all the people consider copying of the software is silly matter and which in
the real and sense, makes them as a law breaker.
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