Intellectual property... now
there's a real 90's deal. Copyrights, trade marks,
patents, have been around for a long while, and are
generally understood by most people. However, those
legalities didn't encompass concepts, in need of
protection, since the exploration of the virtual world,
commenced.
When the Internet was born, the transmission of ideas
exploded. All of a sudden, there was a whole new realm of
possibilities to be explored. Idea guys were suddenly in
high demand, and the money began to flow.
In the spirit of competition, we discovered a need to
protect ideas, thought processes, and credit card numbers.
So, the government stepped in and wrote some laws, to
protect what is in your head.
Intellectual Property is defined as:
n.
"A product of the intellect, that has commercial
value, including copyrighted property such as, literary or
artisic works, and ideational property, such as patenets,
appellations of origins, business methods, and industrial
processes."
"Intangible property that is the result of creativity
(such as, patents, trademarks, or copyrights)."
"The ownership of ideas and control over the
tangible, or virtual representations of those
ideas..."
Concept theft is a problem that is not really talked about
much, but it does exist. Remember when Bill Gates
introduced Windows, and Steve Jobs accused him of ripping
off Apple?
With the Internet representing endless possibilities for
creativity, it would only stand to reason, that cases of
idea stealing should rise, as competition for dominating
market shares increases.
If you've got marketable ideas, you'd better know your
rights and responsibilities. If you don't, you'll kick
yourself when someone steals your million dollar idea out
from under you. You need to be legally protected and aware
in cyberspace, just as you must in the real world. There
are people out there, that would rather steal your idea
than come up with something original, on their own.
If your desire to succeed brings you to the consideration
of wire-tapping someone else's brain waves, and making off
with their ideas, you should catch up on your reading a
bit. The government has taken this matter to heart, and
legislated it pretty intensely. You should know your
rights as an Internet Intellectual, and the penalties for
idea stealing.
"The Economic Espionage Act of 1996 ("EEA")
contains two separate provisions that criminalize the
theft or misappropriation of trade secrets. The first
provision, codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1831(a), is directed
towards foreign economic espionage and requires that the
theft of the trade secret be done to benefit a foreign
government, instrumentality, or agent. It states:
(a) In general. -- Whoever, intending or knowing that the
offense will benefit any foreign government, foreign
instrumentality, or foreign agent, knowingly -
** (1) steals, or without authorization appropriates,
takes, carries away, or conceals, or by fraud, artifice,
or deception obtains a trade secret;
** (2) without authorization copies, duplicates, sketches,
draws, photographs, downloads, uploads, alters, destroys,
photocopies, replicates, transmits, delivers, sends,
mails, communicates, or conveys a trade secret;
** (3) receives, buys, or possesses a trade secret,
knowing the same to have been stolen or appropriated,
obtained, or converted without authorization;
** (4) attempts to commit any offense described in any of
paragraphs (1) through (3); or
** (5) conspires with one or more other persons to commit
any offense described in any of paragraphs (1) through
(3), and one or more of such person do any act to effect
the object of the conspiracy, shall, except as provided in
subsection (b), be fined not more than $500,000 or
imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both.
In contrast, the second provision, 18 U.S.C. § 1832,
makes criminal the commercial theft of trade secrets,
carried out for purely economic or commercial advantage:
(a) Whoever, with intent to convert a trade secret, that
is related to or included in a product that is produced
for or placed in interstate or foreign commerce, to the
economic benefit of anyone other than the owner thereof,
and intending or knowing that the offense will injure any
owner of that trade secret, knowingly --
** (1) steals, or without authorization appropriates,
takes, carries away, or conceals, or by fraud, artifice,
or deception obtains such information;
** (2) without authorization copies, duplicates, sketches,
draws, photographs, downloads, uploads, alters, destroys,
photocopies, replicates, transmits, delivers, sends,
mails, communicates, or conveys such information;
** (3) receives, buys, or possesses such information,
knowing the same to have been stolen or appropriated,
obtained, or converted without authorization;
** (4) attempts to commit any offense described in
paragraphs (1) through (3); or
** (5) conspires with one or more other persons to commit
any offense described in paragraphs (1) through (3), and
one or more of such persons do any act to effect the
object of the conspiracy, shall, except as provided in
subsection (b), be fined under this title or imprisoned
not more than 10 years, or both.
Please fell free to visit the links referenced, to read
more about Intellectual Property - Rights, Crime and
Punnishment. There really is an awful lot you should know.
This should be required reading for all thinkers.
Copyright © 2004
The Trii-Zine Ezine
http://www.ezines1.com/triizine
Resources: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=intellectual+property&r=67
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/ipmanual/08ipma.htm#VIII.B.6.a
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About
The Author
Trina
L.C. Schiller is the proprietor and
publisher of TLC Promotions and The
Trii-Zine Ezine. Trina is a Founding
Publisher of Quikonnex.com, also member of
the National Register's Who's Who in
Executives and Professionals and CEO of
the new Ads-On-Q™ Syndicated Advertising
Company. A professional network marketer,
and home business consultant, her mission
is to help others achieve their financial
goals, while improving their quality of
life.
http://www.tlcpromotions.net |
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