That area is cyberspace and, according to GSB senior lecturer Constance Bagley, there, too, are monsters. Bagley, who teaches law for managers, recognizes both the possibilities and the perils of cyberspace. Meanwhile, she warns, managers who leap into the new technology without looking first will discover very quickly that the legal waters are murky at best. We are taking laws that are in some instances as old as the U.S. Constitution and applying them to the technology of the mid-1990s. This was obviously not contemplated when the Founders decided to further the arts and sciences by giving certain intellectual property rights to individuals who invent something or create a work or expression.
Intellectual property is the key asset of many companies.
It is particularly precious to startups, which usually need proprietary rights to a product or technology in order to attract venture capital. If there isn't enough, then you don't have the incentive you need to invent new products or create new works. If there's too much, it chills development by making it difficult to build on previous ideas. It's important to keep that tension in mind, because it is something courts are going to be mindful of. These protections are only beginning to be applied to cyberspace.