Intellectual property rights — copyrights, patents and trademarks — provide the legal framework necessary for creative enterprise like commercial software development to flourish. But it is widely assumed that most people view IP rights as business and legal concepts with little relevance to their daily lives. That’s why the World Intellectual Property Organization and its … Read More >>
Forget Mom’s Maiden Name
OK, don’t forget it. That would make Mom sad. But don’t worry about telling it to your bank or credit card company anymore, because there will soon be better ways of authenticating who you are online. That is because the Obama Administration has unveiled the final iteration of its National Strategy for Trusted Identities in … Read More >>
Internet Piracy Portal Launch
Unauthorized copying of software used to require physically exchanging disks or other hard media through the mail or on the streets. This unauthorized copying was ultimately overshadowed by corporate end-user piracy, a pervasive form of copyright infringement that occurs when otherwise legitimate companies install software on more computers than the licenses they have purchased permit. … Read More >>
Tailoring Consumer Protections for Digital Services
Europe’s consumer protection framework is currently under review, which is a good thing: strong consumer protection for Europeans is a must. This review provides an opportunity to assure consumers of a reliable standard of protection throughout the European single market and to reduce the regulatory and legal burden on companies by harmonizing the cacophony of … Read More >>
Real Crimes with Real Victims
One of the great misconceptions about intellectual property theft is that it is little more than a nuisance crime. By this faulty reasoning, there’s no real harm in using commercial products without paying for them, and it’s no big deal if someone sets up shop to sell cheap knockoffs of the real thing. But the … Read More >>