http://e-library.net/articles/RSS/Thought-...erty-Rights.htm
Intellectual property... now there's a real 90's deal. Copyrights, trade marks, patents, have been about for a long while, and are generally understood by most people. However, those legalities didn't cover concepts, in need of protection, since the exploration of the virtual world, commenced.
When the Net 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 several laws, to protect what is in your head.
Intellectual Property is defined as:
n.
"A product of the intellect, that has commercial value, including proprietary property such as, literary or artisic works, and notional property, such as patenets, appellations of origins, business methods, and industrial processes."
"Intangible property that is the result of creative thinking (such as, patents, trademarks, or copyrights)."
"The ownership of ideas and control over the tangible, or virtual representations of those ideas..."
Concept stealing is a problem that is not actually talked simply about much, but it does exist. Remember once Bill Gates introduced Windows, and Steve Jobs defendant him of cacophonous off Apple?
With the Net representing endless possibilities for creativity, it would-be 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 cognize your rights and responsibilities. If you don't, you'll kick yourself once causal agency steals your million dollar idea out from under you. You need to be wrongfully protected and aware in cyberspace, simply as you must in the real world. There are folk out there, that would-be rather steal your idea than move up with thing original, on their own.
If your desire to succeed brings you to the consideration of wire-tapping causal agency else's brain waves, and production 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 cognize your rights as an Net Intellectual, and the penalties for idea stealing.
"The Economic Spying Act of 1996 ("EEA") contains two separate provisions that criminalize the stealing or misappropriation of trade secrets. The 1st provision, statute at 18 U.S.C. ? 1831(a), is directed towards foreign economic spying and requires that the stealing of the trade private secret be done to benefit a foreign government, instrumentality, or agent. It states:
(a) In general. -- Whoever, intending or knowing that the offense wish benefit any foreign government, foreign instrumentality, or foreign agent, wittingly -
** (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 purloined or appropriated, obtained, or regenerate without authorization;
** (4) attempts to commit any offense represented in any of paragraphs (1) through (3); or
** (5) conspires with one or more else persons to commit any offense represented 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 segment (b), be punished not more than $500,000 or jailed not more than 15 years, or both.
In contrast, the second provision, 18 U.S.C. ? 1832, does criminal the commercial stealing of trade secrets, carried out for strictly economic or commercial advantage:
(a) Whoever, with intent to convert a trade secret, that is related to or enclosed in a product that is make for or placed in interstate or foreign commerce, to the economic benefit of anyone else than the owner thereof, and intending or knowing that the offense wish injure any owner of that trade secret, wittingly --
** (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 purloined or appropriated, obtained, or regenerate without authorization;
** (4) attempts to commit any offense represented in paragraphs (1) through (3); or
** (5) conspires with one or more else persons to commit any offense represented 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 segment (b), be punished under this title or jailed not more than 10 years, or both.
