Innovation and intellectual property protection: : The software industry perspective

Digital commerce does not yet exist in a widely available, commercially viable form. Substantial amounts of innovation will be required to improve and customize existing technology and to create necessary new technologies for the digital marketplace. Recent months have witnessed the establishment of a broad array of new enterprises, joint ventures and business alliances aimed at preparing for a digital future. Driven by consumer demand, this trend will accelerate over the coming years. The author points out that a number of factors will be critical, however, in order for electronically harnessed information to become an established norm. For the software industry, the most important factor is strong protection of intellectual property rights. This is essential to the promotion and development of new applications and services. The author views the emergence of a digital marketplace as dependent on the combined advancements in technological safeguards and encryption techniques, and strong national and international legal safeguards for copyrighted materials.