Piracy in the Internet Age

Abstract

The Internet has created boundary-less territories and has helped in evolving a unique method to share and transfer information, growth of e-commerce and in creating a global platform for all nations and its citizens. Online piracy is a major flipside to this development. Rampant intellectual property (IP) infringements by way of unlawful reproduction and unmonitored downloads is a matter of concern. It is significant to take note of the laws that various countries have enacted and enforced in order to curb or at least regulate online piracy and related activities. Further, though the Copyright Act, 1957 and Information Technology Act, 2000 in India deal with certain facets of piracy, they do not conclusively deal with this menace. It is the need of the hour for India to draft and enforce laws which will address the current problem and also take into consideration the technological advancements that are likely to give rise to more of such complex issues. Formulating such a law in the near future will be a welcome change and will definitely give India the IP advantage.