Copyright in a networked world
ethics and infringement
Philosophische Fakultät I
The statutes themselves are not the only basis for deciding whether an intellectual property rights infringement has occurred. Ethical judgments can also influence judicial rulings. This column looks at three issues of intellectual property ethics: the nature of the property, written guidelines for behavior, and enforcement mechanisms. For most active infringers digital property seems unreal, the rules ambiguous, and the enforcement statistically unlikely.
