more specifically i need topics (issues) in intellectual property for a research paper (dissertation).
anyone with any suggestions?
drop them on the comments page.
i found the following article interesting:
Thursday September 16, 2004
Need for a dedicated intellectual property court
By STEVEN PATRICK
SUBANG JAYA: With over 600 copyright cases pending in court and not a single conviction against a software pirate yet, the Malaysian Government is considering creating a court dedicated specifically to intellectual property cases.
Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Haji Mohd Shafie said his ministry was working towards this goal, but he would not commit to a deadline in establishing such an intellectual property court.
In Malaysian law, those found guilty of breaking the Copyright Act 1987 are liable to a fine of between RM2,000 and RM20,000, five years in jail, or both, for each infringing copy.
The Government has been cracking down on intellectual property pirates consistently over the last three years with its regular, and currently ongoing, Ops Tulen campaigns, succeeding in putting peddlers of pirated VCDs, DVDs and software on the backpedal.
But it is facing mounting criticism over the lack of convictions.
"I wish I could (jail copyright offenders). There is a need to take action," said Mohd Shafie.
"I raised this at the recent post-Cabinet meeting (yesterday)," he told reporters after launching the Staying On The Right Side of the Law with Software Asset Management seminar this morning.
The seminar was organised by the ministry and the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a consortium of proprietary software vendors dedicated to fighting piracy on a global basis.
His statements mark a tougher stance on the ministry's part in tackling piracy. BSA Asia Pacific vice-president and regional director Jeffrey Hardee said that establishing an intellectual property court, and convicting and jailing copyright offenders, would send a very strong message out.
On the lack of convictions, Hardee told In.Tech, "This has to do with problems with prosecution and how the evidence is prepared.
"Also, some judges are not completely in tune with these cases as (they constitute) white-collar crime," he said.
The BSA said it has more than 30 software piracy cases pending since the year 2000. It has conducted 12 raids since June, and over RM3mil worth of hardware and software were seized in Selangor, Penang and Negri Sembilan.
BSA members include some of the world's most prominent technology companies such as Apple Computer, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, IBM and Microsoft.
In his keynote speech at the seminar, Mohd Shafie said that Malaysia's IT sector, which was worth US$2.2bil (RM8.4bil), could double in size by 2006 if software piracy rates were reduced by 10%.
The BSA estimated the local piracy rate at 68% last year, which meant that about seven out of 10 copies of software in use were illegal. This translates to estimated losses in potential revenue amounting to US$99.5mil (RM378mil).
interesting? i wonder.
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