Copyright v2.0: New code to shield software

NEW DELHI: The government plans to introduce a legislation empowering software makers in their fight against the sale of unauthorised copies of their products, as it looks to crack down on rampant piracy in the country where nearly three-fourths of the software used is pirated.

An amendment to the Copyright Act, which will be introduced in Parliament later this year, will make it illegal to break the security code of all kinds of software from operating systems and games to multimedia players, said a senior official with the commerce ministry, who asked not to be named.

The proposed law will also make it punishable to access computer networks and websites without authorisation, the official added.

These provisions will help software makers to take preventive steps to stop piracy. ���At present, about 69% of all software used in the country is pirated. Total revenue losses to software makers due to piracy in India stood at over $2 billion in 2007,��� said Keshav S Dhakad, co-chair, India, Business Software Alliance, a global body of software makers.

This will make enforcement of copyright protection in the country much easier. At present, the only form of protection for software in India is through copyright. Software cannot be patented in India unless it is embedded in hardware such as mobile phones, DVD players or microwave ovens.

Nasscom, the apex body of software and services industry, hailed the initiative. ���The move will send a strong signal to the global community about the seriousness of India to implement copyright laws. But apart from legislation, judicial and enforcement process needs to be speeded up,��� Som Mittal, president of the association, said.

Software code breakers reverse-engineer the machine language of zeroes and ones into instructions understandable for humans. That helps them bypass the security features and access software and computer networks. This involves tinkering with the machine���s language known as object code and the software program called the source code. The proposed amendment would make it illegal to tamper with both.

Lawyers said the proposed amendment will help cover the shortcomings in the IT Act, 2000. ���The sections related to hacking under Section 66 of the Act was deleted by Parliament last month. The offence has also been made bailable thus making cyber crime a laissez faire. This might plug that loophole,��� says cyber law expert Pavan Duggal.

The amendment, proposed by the department of industrial policy and promotion, empowers software makers to take swift action when someone tampers with the security features of their software that needs an online validation of the license to use. The software sends an alert to its producer who can track down the culprit. This will be easy as even shops offering internet facility maintain the identification details of the user.

Offering this form of enforcement right is essential for India to be part of an international agreement called the Madrid Protocol, which will allow anyone from its 70 member nations to get copyright protection for his work in any other nation.