Digital watermarking

Internet has made intellectual property rights more susceptible to violations. But there are many kinds of digital management solutions to defend IP portfolios. Nowadays, there is many of companies proffering a diversity of digital programs for IP management.one of these programs called “digital watermarking” that created by Digimarc, an American provider of IP management solutions.

Digital Watermarking allows copyright owners to track distribution, access and payment of its material. Bits of information are embedded in data codes that are imperceptible during normal use but readable by computers and software. Digital watermarks may be used in audio, video, images, printed documents, music and any digital or analog format. The watermarks are made very difficult to remove, and if removed, there would be a distortion of the IP material.

Source: http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1711

http://www.alpvision.com/watermarking.html

Cyber Crime - Intellectual Property Theft

Intellectual property (IP) theft is defined as theft of material that is copyrighted, the theft of trade secrets, and trademark violations. A copyright is the legal right of an author, publisher, composer, or other person who creates a work to exclusively print, publish, distribute, or perform the work in public. The United States leads the world in the creation and selling of IP products to buyers nationwide and internationally. Examples of copyrighted material commonly stolen online are computer software, recorded music, movies, and electronic games.

Theft of trade secrets means the theft of ideas, plans, methods, technologies, or any sensitive information from all types of industries including manufacturers, financial service institutions, and the computer industry. Trade secrets are plans for a higher speed computer, designs for a highly fuel-efficient car, a company's manufacturing procedures, or the recipe for a popular salad dressing, cookie mix, or barbeque sauce. These secrets are owned by the company and give it a competitive edge. Theft of trade secrets damages the competitive edge and therefore the economic base of a business.

A trademark is the registered name or identifying symbol of a product that can be used only by the product's owner. A trademark violation involves counterfeiting or copying brand name products such as well-known types of shoes, clothing, and electronics equipment and selling them as the genuine or original product.

The owner of Napster at a 2001 news conference following a court ruling that the company must stop allowing users to share copyrighted music.(AP/Wide World Photos)

The two forms of IP most frequently involved in cyber crime are copyrighted material and trade secrets. Piracy is a term used to describe IP theft—piracy of software, piracy of music, etc. Theft of IP affects the entire U.S. economy. Billions of dollars are lost every year to IP pirates. For example, thieves sell pirated computer software for games or programs to millions of Internet users. The company that actually produced the real product loses these sales and royalties rightfully due to the original creator.

Historically, when there were no computers, IP crimes involved a lot of time and labor. Movie or music tapes had to be copied, physically produced, and transported for sale. An individual had to make the sale in person. To steal a trade secret, actual paper plans, files, or blueprints would have to be physically taken from a company's building and likewise sold in person.

In the twenty-first century software, music, and trade secret pirates operate through the Internet. Anything that can be digitized—reduced to a series of zeroes and ones—can be transmitted rapidly from one computer to another. There is no reduction of quality in second, third, or fourth generation copies. Pirated digital copies of copyrighted work transmitted over the Internet are known as "warez." Warez groups are responsible for illegally copying and distributing hundreds of millions of dollars of copyrighted material.

Pirated trade secrets are sold to other companies or illegal groups. Trade secrets no longer have to be physically stolen from a company. Instead, corporate plans and secrets are downloaded by pirates onto a computer disc. The stolen information can be transmitted worldwide in minutes. Trade secret pirates find pathways into a company's computer systems and download the items to be copied. Companies keep almost everything in their computer files. Pirated copies are sold over the Internet to customers who provide their credit card numbers then download the copy.

Read more: Cyber Crime - Intellectual Property Theft http://law.jrank.org/pages/11992/Cyber-Crime-Intellectual-property-theft.html#ixzz0lTCJhWbz

An Introduction to Intellectual Property

Intellectual property (IP) is a term referring to a number of distinct types of legal monopolies over creations of the mind, both artistic and commercial, and the corresponding fields of law.^[1] Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Common types of intellectual property include copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and trade secrets in some jurisdictions.

Although many of the legal principles governing intellectual property have evolved over centuries, it was not until the 19th century that the term intellectual property began to be used, and not until the late 20th century that it became commonplace in the United States.^[2] The British Statute of Anne 1710 and the Statute of Monopolies 1623 are now seen as the origin of copyright and patent law respectively.^[3]