Explain how new technology is making it more difficult to protect intellectual property rights
Answers
Technology is allowing the copy, transfer, and manipulation of information and intellectual property to occur more quickly. For example, fiber optic technology is currently capable, under laboratory conditions, of transferring 100 average-length novels over a distance of 100 miles in 1 second. These capabilities may soon be available in offices and homes. As a result of this and many similar developments, owners of rights may have less marketplace “cushion’ in which to realize a return on their creative and financial investments. Thus, they may have less incentive to produce works. Technology is making the copying, transfer,
and manipulation of information and intellectual works more private. For example, personal computers can store, process, and communicate the contents of large commercial databases without the knowledge or consent of the
compilers of such works. As a result, owners of rights face greater difficulty detecting, proving, and stopping infringements. Thus, they may have less incentive to make their works generally available.