intellectual property

For years the office of the United States Trade Representative, in addition to US-based copyright protection agencies like the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), have insisted that ... Russia do more to protect American intellectual property (IP). Now, it appears the Russian government is finally prepared to work with the United States to help protect American IP. The new agreement, known as the "Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Action Plan," is connected to Russia's recent entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). Trade ... (view more)

For Hollywood and the music industry, there's no greater foe than online pirate sites, places where users flock together to share copyrighted movies and songs. Now, a cadre of American senators are making an effort to essentially block these illicit ... websites by forcing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) into doing the work for them. The proposed law is simple: if the United States Justice Department finds a domain to be engaged in the distribution of pirated intellectual property, it would file civil action against the site. The ISP of any offending domain found to be based in the U.S. would ... (view more)

President Bush has reportedly signed into law a controversial bill known as the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for intellectual Property (PRO IP) Act to protect American consumer rights that stiffens penalties against counterfeiting and ... piracy at the federal level. Under the law, an Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator --- referred to by some as an intellectual property czar --- will be appointed by the Senate who will report directly to the president on how to better protect copyrights both domestically and internationally, over the objections of the Justice Department that ... (view more)

In my last article, I likened Microsoft to the fabled leopard that couldn't change its spots. As it happens, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has proven that indeed, the leopard is still covered in spots. Mr. Ballmer declared his belief that the Linux ... operating system infringes on Microsoft's intellectual property. What is so laughable about his assertion is that Microsoft has had those exact same charges leveled at them by companies such as Apple, Xerox, and several other entities. (Source: openaddict.com ) What is Intellectual Property? Intellectual property (or "IP") is a method of legal ... (view more)