INTRODUCTION

The capability of computer to share data with other computers with the help of networking has
led to a major telecommunication revolution. “Networking has led to a concept of
cyberspace”.1 The word cyber has evolved to denote a virtual space or memory, it denotes the
medium in which certain activities take place, like the way thoughts work in human memory.
Activities take place in the back end of a computer and the results are displayed in the monitor.
The data stored in the electronic form as soft copier, which could be retrieved at any point of
time and visualized in the monitor. The present day data transmission is far superior in terms
of speed, quality, visuals, utility, impact and convenience. Internet is global in nature. It is a
fact that the growth and spread of internet has become an important yardstick for measuring
the growth and strength of any economy. With the advent of the Internet, some new problems
in the field of intellectual property law have been appeared. The infringement of intellectual
property rights over the Internet is one of them.

“The concept of Intellectual property can be traced back to the Byzantine Empire where
monopolies were granted. Intellectual Property (IP) can be loosely defined as creations of
human mind.”2 Intellectual property can be categorized into two categories i.e. Industrial
property and Copyright. Industrial property deals with patents, trademarks, geographical
indications, designs and semiconductors layout design. On the other hand Copyright covers
literary, dramatic, artistic, musical, cinematographic films and sound recording etc. etc. The
The impetus for the development of intellectual property law, at its inception, was to ensure
that sufficient incentives exist to lead to innovation and the creation of new and original works
and products. “The physical world has been relatively successful at erecting barriers to prevent
acts that would limit this innovation, in the form of copyright, trademark and patent regulations.
This enabled Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) owners to use or disclose their creations
without fear of loss of control over their use, thus helping their dissemination. It is generally
assumed that IPR help encourage creative and inventive activity and make for orderly
marketing of proprietary goods and services.”3 But with the advent of internet, copying has

1
The word ‘cyberspace’ was coined by William Gibson in his Science fiction novel “Neuromancer” published in
1984.
2
Definition given by WTO, available at: http://www.wto.org (Visited on November 11, 2017).
3
Watal Jayashree, Intellectual Property Rights in the WTO and Developing Countries 1 ( Oxford University
Press, New Delhi, 1st edn., 2001).
become so simple and easy that rampant violation of intellectual property is taking place
affecting the rights of IPR owners.

When intellectual property laws were first drafted, computer technology did not exist. At that
time, it was not foreseen that it would be necessary to protect information stored by digital
means, nor was it foreseen that information would become such a sought after commodity.4The
Internet, Software, Business methods for e-commerce applications & electronic databases are
relatively new territories where innovators have created an environment in which information
exists in plentiful quantities and available to many people.

“International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and

UDHR5guarantees everyone the right to benefit from the protection of the moral and material
interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.6
With the advent of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), the relationship between
human rights and intellectual property assumes greater significance as the traditional balance
between intellectual property holders and users is slightly imbalanced in favour of users.”

“What distinguishes digital media7 from conventional media are six characteristics that will
make it difficult for existing categories of intellectual property law to adjust to the protection
of works in digital form.” They are8:

1) the ease with which works in digital form can be replicated,

2) the ease with which they can be transmitted,
3) the ease with which they can be modified and manipulated,
4) the equivalence of works in digital form,
5) the compactness of works in digital form, and
6) the capacity they have for creating new methods of searching digital space and linking
works together.

4
The Hindu, Technical know-how essential to check cyber crime, available at
:http://www.thehindu.com/2005/02/06/stories/2005020603910300.htm (Visited on 17 November 2017).
5
Art.27(2), Universal Declaration of Human Rights
6
Art.15(1)(c), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
7
"digital media," means intellectual products made available in digital/electronic form, whether operational
in computers or other machines capable of "reading" works in digital form.
8
Pamela Samuelson, “Digital Media and Changing Face of Intellectual Property Law”, available at:
http://www.law.berkeley.edu/faculty/profiles/facultyPubsPDF.php?facID=346&pubID=152 (Visited on 17
November 2017).
The relationship between the Internet and Copyright law is complicated. The internet is an
international system for the transmission and reproduction of material, much of which is
protected by Copyright. It therefore presents previously unimaginable possibilities for
copyright infringement and many challenges for copyright law.9

9
B.T. Muragendra, “Copyright and Trademark in Cyberspace” 3 IJSER (2012).
CYBERSPACE

Cyberspace: a consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions of legitimate operators,

in every nation, by children being taught mathematical concepts … A graphic representation
of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. (William Gibson
quoted in Cotton and Oliver, 1994, p.54.)

The word ‘cyberspace’ was coined by William Gibson in his Science fiction novel
Neuromancer published in 1984. This word has stormed into our language and invaded our
collective consciousness like no other. As the technology improves and ownership of home
computers increases, we competently navigate our way around cyberspace, downloading
information, reading and writing to newsgroups, and receiving and sending
emails.10Cyberspace is a virtual world, which technically exists only in computer memory, but
it is interactive and pulsing with life.11 In cyberspace, one can meet and talk to new people,
read, publish, research, hear music, see video, look at art, purchase and sell things, access
government documents, send e-mail, download software, and receive technical support.

There are in fact two spurs of cyberspace. On the one hand, we have virtual reality—a 3-D
cyberspatial environment which humans can ‘enter’ and ‘move through’, interacting with both
the computer and other human beings 12On the other hand, we have the slightly less dramatic,
but more utilitarian, world of networks of computers linked via cables and routers (similar to
telephone connections) which enable us to communicate, store and retrieve information. By far
the largest and most well-known of these is the Internet.13 This second spur of cyberspace
encompasses not only the connections between computers, but also the browser and email
software which transmits information, plus the internal space of the microchip and other
electronic storage technologies—the places in which information actually resides.14

10
Rebecca Bryant, “What Kind of Space is Cyberspace?” 5 MIJP 138–155 (2001).
11
Darrel Menthe, “Jurisdiction in cyberspace: A theory of international space”, 4 MTTR 69 (1998). Available at:
www.mttlr.org/volfour/ menthe. (Visited on 17 November 2017); Illegal and harmful content on the Internet:
Communication from the European Commission to the European Parliament, The Council, the Economic and
Social Committee of Regulations, available at: www.law.indiana.edu/fclj/ pubs/v50/no1/wilske.html (Visited
on 17 November 2017).
12
Supra note 10.
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid.
Cyberspace is a living organism, constantly changing, as more information is uploaded,
downloaded, as more people join the pioneers of this brave new world. Our laws have yet to
catch up with it. Cyberspace challenges the traditional notion of jurisdiction.This is not
necessarily a bad thing; the law tends to lag behind social changes, and then resolve itself
accordingly. While this new frontier will never stop evolving, perhaps it is still too much in its
infancy for us to determine how to regulate it. But as it becomes more integrated into (and
integral to) our daily lives, many are becoming concerned with defining acceptable behaviour
in this new landscape.