Copyright is meant to prevent unauthorized copying of creative works. It applies to written, artistic and musical works - including computer software. The aim is to ensure that the creators of these works, or those who own the rights to them, receive a fair reward.
Unfortunately, Arab countries have taken a relaxed view of copyright. In many places intellectual property laws are non-existent or are not enforced. There is evidence that this attitude - and particularly software piracy which is raampant throughout the Middle East - has hampered development in the field of technology.
There are several studies that have dealt with the importance of copyright protection and have identified its importance for the technology innovation process.This is on of the major problem all programmers and designers over there suffer from.
The only benefit from this attitude is that you can buy any software you want for just 1$ or 2$ ( cracked version ).
that Attitudes are beginning to change, however
http://www.aspip.org/ Arab Society for Intellectual Property
"There is evidence that this attitude - and particularly software piracy which is rampant throughout the Middle East - has hampered development in the field of technology." - that is VERY interesting. Would love to see those studies and/or hypothesis.
ReplyDeleteThis is another big issue in Russia, particularly when it comes to music and video (especially music). I remember Todd and I coming across a site called AllOfMp3 a few years ago and thinking "wow, the music industry is finally scaling back to a few cents per song" - but then realizing that the site was based in Russia (there are similar ones still operating) and the legality of it was very questionable (take a look here if you're interested in learning more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allofmp3). We spent many hours debating whether or not it was safe for us to partake in, whether or not we SHOULD, whether or not the model made sense for people who weren't the completists and collectors that we were/are, etc.
Side note: Eventually, I went to a setup where I was using Rhapsody exclusively - $15 a month allowed me to listen to whatever I wanted on any computer and also download songs "to-go" that would expire after a month - so my collection was HUGE. But then I realized that the agreements between different labels and Rhapsody were always changing, so albums would appear and disappear, and of course those dearly loved "rare" titles were nowhere to be found. And then I went Mac, and it doesn't even work there, so I went back to purchasing and storing files. What's next? Will a better and more consistent form of "music as a commodity" arrive? Will there ever be one that sates me in terms of selection? Things that make you go "hmmm..."