Software piracy

Abstarct Sofware piracy is one of the serious problems related to the developement of information society. Aim of my thesis was to describe basic attributes of this social phenomenon, characterize some of the legal and extralegal aspects associated wiht it and provide closer insight to "behind the scenes" of software piracy. The paper itself is composed of four thematic areas. First part (chapter 2) provides introduction to the theme and is devoted to legal protection of computer programs provided by relevant provisions of Czech Copyright Act (No 121/2000). Second part (chaper 3) addresses the actual characteristics of the software piracy phenomenon. My effort here was focused on finding a suitable definition of this term, outlining possible causes and effects of software piracy and describing some of the means used for distribution of pirated digital goods. Besides the description of warez scene as a pirate community sui generis, this chapter also includes subsection devoted to related ilegal ativities, such as hacking, phishing, spamming and cybersquatting. Third part of my thesis (chapter 4) analyzes the liability under criminal, administrative, civil and copyright law. Finally the fourth and final part (chapter 5) covers the basics of secondary liability of internet service providers, based on type of..