copying in the Middle East alone. In Latin America, pirate software programs are openly on sale in markets from Peru to. Anti-piracy laws are almost nonsexist, the local government seems unlikely to take legal actions to curb counterfeiting when know that the results are so rewarding. In the past, software was illegal in communist Eastern Europe because of the Western bans, but in the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall, IBM offered an amnesty to software pirates in the form of a modest fee to legalize all their pirate programs and an exchange service that enabled users to trade in their pirate program for legitimate purchased at a discount. Over the years, giant software companies have keep close eyes on the worldwide piracy issues, however they could do to prevent those piracy acts are too limited- and too costly. As a result, the U.S.-based Software Publishers’ Association (SPA) estimates that software piracy is costing U.S. software producers between $10 billion and $12 billion a year worldwide - part of an estimate $60 to $80 billion a year lost to U.S. companies through the theft of intellectual property of types. The idea of IPR has been around since the Middle Ages, and the current forms of legal protection have evolved over centuries. According to the Untied Nations’ Patent Office, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), intellectual property is defined as the rights to the results of intellectual activity in the industry, scientific, literary, or artistic. Generally speaking, copyright law has traditionally protected forms of literary expression. However, computer software is a new king of entity that presents major challenges for the law. Chief among these are how we define ownership of this form of
intellectual property and how the rights of ownership can and should be protected. Current laws are outdated and confusing, especially those of Asian countries. In the past, IPR was considered a mere trifle in Taiwan, but now it has become a major issue as a result of increased concern for international IPR. The Taiwan Administration, Legislative, and the local industries held a number of strong debates on this subject. These debates also attracted the public’s attention. In this connection, both government and the public have started to realize the importance of IPR protection in Taiwan. Their attitudes towards this have changed from apathetic and passive to concerned and active. Today, Taiwan starts to provide a better and more effective environment for copyright protection. Now that Taiwan is off the U.S. 301 Watch List and has made the amendments to its laws required for entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), Taiwan is more ready to face obstacles in preventing the piracy and understand that it is the obligation of every member of the international community to confront the problems. Laws in Taiwan Taiwan began to seek admission to the GATT in 1990. The GATT regarded Taiwan as a developed economic body because its economic strength at its application. In this connection, they set the same deadline for Taiwan to adjust its intellectual property system as that of other GATT or WTO developed countries. In this regards, Taiwan government promptly adjusted the
legislation and revised its copyright laws in accordance with the international trend. In order to meet the international standard, Taiwan Legislation has comprehensively revised the Copyright Law in 1992 as follows: 1. Has clear and concise. 2. Complies with international conventions and treaties. The Copyright Law protects works of both Taiwan and foreign origin on the basis of reciprocity. 3. Expressly provides both moral rights and economic rights. Moral right include the rights of public release, attribution, and integrity. 4. Meets international standards for the term of protection. The Law extends the term of copyright to life of the author plus 50 years, or 50 years after the date of the first publication of a work. 5. Seeks to harmonize social and public interests with the rights of authors and copyright owners through an expanded chapter on fair use. In terms of enforcement, various government departments have adopted number of measures to assist the copyright holders in enforcing their rights in infringement cases. For examples: To prevent the unauthorized import of copyright goods, the Directorate General of Customs has established a set of guidelines pursuant to the Copyright Law. Authorized importers are listed in the customs database, and good imported by these companies will be allowed to clear. Where the importer is not listed as authorized, the local representative of the copyright owner will be notified, and if the goods are not licensed,
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