My message this month is about one of the dark sides of the Internet. I think the Internet is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It has opened doors and windows to new frontiers, broken down barriers of time and distance in personal and professional business communication, and has brought people and nations together in commerce, education and governance. But where there is light and joy, there will also be negative forces bent on abuse and corruption. I refer to the crime of Internet Piracy.
Crime exists in our physical world, and so it does in the digital world.
What makes Internet Piracy so invidious is that its perpetrators are difficult to trace. Internet Piracy is a term used for the general use of the Internet to illegally copy or distribute counterfeit or other unauthorised software. This crime occurs when the Internet is used to advertise, offer, acquire or distribute pirated software. We ve had one or two cases in Malaysia, and fortunately our law enforcement agencies were quick to catch the cyber-villains. But over the past few years, sale of counterfeit software through the Internet to unsuspecting consumers has multiplied and is posing an increasingly challenging problem for enforcement agencies, legitimate Internet businesses, software companies and governments.