China jails Windows software pirates - 8 views

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  #1 Meenatchi on 25 Aug 09

   

  Case Summary:
  
  The article is about an intellectual property infringement that took place in China. A court in Eastern China has sentenced four people to up to three-and-a-half years in prison for selling bootleg versions of Microsoft's Windows XP software. The court stated that the website managed by the four had offered free downloads of the pirated software to at least 10 million users while raking in profits from Internet advertisements. China's efforts to stop intellectual property infringement theft are considered weak and ineffective.
  
  The URL of the article: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20090821/ttc-china-court-copyright-piracy-microso-0de2eff.html
  
  The Ethical Questions:
  
  1) Is it right to blame the authorities of China for the rampant online intellectual property theft from the country? Is it not the individual's responsibility to ensure that he/she does not engage in such activities? Is legal enforcement regulation needed for individuals to refrain from such activities?
  2) Could sharing intellectual property online be considered a theft? Is it not the right of the person who purchased the product to do what he/she wants with it, even if that is sharing it online with others?
  
  Problems:
  
  The ethical problem would be to decide who is responsible for the question one. For question two it is the rights of the creator versus the rights of the consumer.

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Case Summary: <br /> <br /> The article is about an intellectual property infringement that took place in China. A court in Eastern China has sentenced four people to up to three-and-a-half years in prison for selling bootleg versions of Microsoft's Windows XP software. The court stated that the website managed by the four had offered free downloads of the pirated software to at least 10 million users while raking in profits from Internet advertisements. China's efforts to stop intellectual property infringement theft are considered weak and ineffective. <br /> <br /> The URL of the article: <a href="http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20090821/ttc-china-court-copyright-piracy-microso-0de2eff.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20090821/ttc-china-court-copyright-piracy-microso-0de2eff.html</a> <br /> <br /> The Ethical Questions: <br /> <br /> 1) Is it right to blame the authorities of China for the rampant online intellectual property theft from the country? Is it not the individual's responsibility to ensure that he/she does not engage in such activities? Is legal enforcement regulation needed for individuals to refrain from such activities? <br /> 2) Could sharing intellectual property online be considered a theft? Is it not the right of the person who purchased the product to do what he/she wants with it, even if that is sharing it online with others? <br /> <br /> Problems: <br /> <br /> The ethical problem would be to decide who is responsible for the question one. For question two it is the rights of the creator versus the rights of the consumer.</div>

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