2. What is intellectual property (IP) in
cyberspace?
• Traditional forms of IP, which are
transacted (sold/purchased) in
cyberspace (tangible IP)
• Traditional forms of IP, which have
converted into electronic goods
(intangible IP)
• Entirely electronic forms of IP, which
are transacted
(sold/purchased/consumed) only in
cyberspace (intangible IP)
3. IP in cyberspace is more
susceptible to infringement and
infringement is more dangerous
5. Infringements related to tangible IP
• Fake goods
• New platforms for
distribution (retail and
wholesale)
6. Infringements related to intangible IP
items
• Digital piracy
• Cyber espionage (theft of
know-how and commercial
secrets)
• Spoofing of legitimate sites
/ content (advertising fraud)
• Full digital transactions and
delivery
7. Novel infringements
• Intermediaries (abettors) of
infringement (Piratebay,
Megaupload)
• Online aggregation of illicit
goods/content/tools (e.g. pay
TV decrypting)
• Theft of virtual items in virtual
worlds
8. Why IP infringements in cyberspace
are more dangerous?
•Inherently cross-border
•Super scalable
•Very low cost
10. Regulation / criminalization
•Directive 2004/48/EC of 29 April 2004 on the
enforcement of intellectual property rights
•23 November 2001 Council of Europe
Convention on Cybercrime (effective 1 July 2004)
•Further initiatives on regulation have stalled
11. Convention on Cybercrime
• Article 10 – Offences related to infringements of copyright and related
rights
• Criminal liability for the infringement of copyright, where such acts are
committed wilfully, on a commercial scale and by means of a computer
system.
• Criminal liability for the infringement of related rights, where such acts are
committed wilfully, on a commercial scale and by means of a computer
system.
• Article 11 – Attempt and aiding or abetting
• Criminal liability for aiding or abetting the commission of any of the
offences established in accordance with Articles 2 through 10 with intent
that such offence be committed, when committed intentionally.
12. Legal issues
• Who may / shall initiate the enforcement?
• Commercial purpose / scale as a prerequisite of
infringement
• Legislation is vague and poorly drafted
• Not a serious crime = limited investigation means
• LT experience – omission of neighboring rights
13. Practical problems
• Difficult and expensive to track / investigate (multiple platforms,
cross-border)
• Difficult expensive enforcement (foreign parties unreachable)
• Non-cooperative users and intermediaries
• Robin Hood infringers (large damage, but no profit to infringer)
• Non-direct profit by perpetrators (advertising, backlinks,
domain/website resales)
14. Political problems
• Low priority (cost v. benefit; if no/little domestic IP is
infringed, then enforcement benefits mainly foreign
parties)
• Unhelpful public policies (copyright levies are based
on presumption of digital piracy – users feel entitled
to pirated content)
15. Technological problems
• Development of
sophistication and user-
friendliness of
anonymization/encryption
technologies
• Development of payment
options (premium SMS /
calls, cryptocurrencies)
16. Case examples
• Megaupload.com (abetting)
• Visosknygos.com (AllBooks)
(pirated digital book portal)
• Aludiski.com (indirect sales)