Legal Protection for Computer Programmes in EU, US and Pakistan : Software Piracy as a Challenge in Pakistan

Abstract

Complementary to the protection of computer software is the protection of computer data. The effect of the World Intellectual Property Organisation Copyright Treaty WCT (an international treaty), the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (United States legislation), Directive 2001/29/EC (European Union legislation) and Copyright Ordinance 1962 (ammended as 2000)(Pakistan Lagislayion) is explicated. And also I have tried my best to presnt Copyright infringments in Pakitan like software piracy as a chellenge in Pakistan. Building upon the preceding understanding of the extent copyright law, copyright law is then applied to four separate common behaviours in computer science: reverse engineering, peer-to-peer networking, technological protection measures and academic research. The extent of the legal protection is then critiqued and improvements to the law suggested. The thesis concludes with suggestions for remedial action and future research directions.