Software theft and the problem of intellectual property rights

  • Authors:

  • Tom Forester

  • Affiliations:

  • Lecturer, School of Computing & Information Technology, Giffith University, Queensland 4111, Australia

  • Venue:
  • ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society
  • Year:
  • 1990

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Abstract

Computers have brought many benefits to society, but they have also created new social problems such as computer crime, software theft, computer unreliability, invasions of privacy, hacking and the creation of viruses. In turn, these problems pose ethical dilemmas for the youthful profession of computing, which has yet to develop rigid codes of ethics. This is especially the case with software theft or piracy, a widespread phenomenon and a modern version of the age-old problem of intellectual property theft. For lawmakers and the computing industry, the central question is how to reward innovation without stifling creativity - but experts disagree as to whether copyright law, patent law or contract law should be used. They also disagree as to what software actually is.