Cyber-attacks detection and prevention

Each author has the right to determine how his/her work will be handled.

If I do not agree with the terms of use of the work,

 understand them or know them,

I have the right not to use the work.

Jan Kolouch

The term Internet piracy is a general term that covers crime, which infringes intellectual property rights (very often limited to copyright). Only with the expansion of computer systems and especially the advent of the Internet can we talk about mass piracy as one of the most widespread forms of cybercrime.

Infringement of intellectual property rights, in particular copyright and related rights, is currently one of the most pressing issues in the information technology environment.

4.11.1.      Intellectual property law

In relation to internet piracy, it is first necessary to define the issue of intellectual property, especially copyright. This definition is necessary to understand the difference between the legal and illegal actions of those who are active on the Internet.

An intellectual property right is an intangible asset, so-called “intangible property”, which is the result of a person's creative activity.This right is independent of the material substrate (it can therefore be used anytime and anywhere in the world) provided that it is unique, unrepeatable and sufficiently original.

Intellectual property rights can be divided into two areas:

            1) Copyrights (protect, for example, original literary and artistic works, musical compositions, television broadcasts, computer programs, databases, advertising creations, multimedia, etc.)

            2) Industrial rights (protect, for example, patents for inventions, designs, industrial models, trademarks, geographical origin, etc.)

In terms of the focus of this monograph, I will primarily deal only with copyright and interference with this right.

4.11.2.      Legislative framework

Copyright protection first began to be addressed at the international level in the 19th century, and the most important legal documents dealing with it include:

·      Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works [1] (1886), which was subsequently supplemented and amended [1908 (Berlin), 1928 (Rome), 1948 (Brussels), 1967 (Stockholm), 1971 (Paris).]. Since 1967, it has been managed by WIPO(World Intellectual Property Organization).

List of states. States which have adopted the Berne Convention are marked in blue. [2]

·       Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, which is one of the annexes to the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) – see Notification No. 191/1995 Sb., (TRIPS – Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights)

·       International Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations of 26^th October 1961 (Decree No. 192/1964 Sb., as amended by Corrigendum No. 157/1965 Sb.) – Rome Convention

World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty Geneva 1996 of 20 December 1996 (see Not. No. 33/2002 Sb. of Int. Treaties), (WCT – WIPO Copyright Treaty)

·       World Intellectual Property Organization Performances and Phonograms Treaty Geneva 1996 of 20 December 1996 (see Not. No. 48/2002 Sb. of Int. Treaties), (WPPT – WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty)

·       Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms against Unauthorized Reproduction of their Phonograms of 29 October 1971 (see Decree 32/1985 Sb.) – Geneva Convention

·       General Copyright Convention revised at Paris on 24 July 1971 (see Decree No. 134/1980 Sb.)

·       Council Directive 91/250/EEC of 14 May 1991 on the legal protection of computer programs,

·       Council Directive 92/100/EEC of 19 November 1992 on rental right and lending right and on certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual property, as amended,

·       Council Directive 93/83/EEC of 27 September 1993 on the coordination of certain rules concerning copyright and rights related to copyright applicable to satellite broadcasting and cable retransmission,

·       Council Directive 93/98/EEC of 29 October 1993 harmonizing the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights, as amended,

·       Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases,

·       Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society,

·       Directive 2001/84/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2001 on the resale right for the benefit of the author of an original work of art,

·       Directive 2004/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the enforcement of intellectual property rights.

·       Council of Europe Convention No. 185 on Cybercrime.

4.11.3.      Attacks

Several terms have been used in the Internet environment for the phenomenon of copyright and related rights infringement. The terms software piracy (for copyright infringement in relation to computer programs) and audiovisual piracy (for copyright infringement of audiovisual works – music and film) are most often used. However, the basis for software and audiovisual piracy is always an infringement of one of the copyrights or rights related to copyright. A general term that covers software and audiovisual piracy is Internet (sometimes also computer) piracy.

Crimes against intellectual property have expanded considerably with the mass advent of the Internet. The most common cases of copyright infringement in cyberspace are:

-       dissemination of a work by e-mail, which is the easiest way to distribute small files (especially literary or graphic copyright works),

-       publication of a workon a website without the author’s consent. This is another very simple way of infringing copyright. Smaller files are published (in terms of data size) and this illegal behaviour is usually detected very early.

-       dissemination of a work by uploading to a specialised server, from where it is possible to download the works freely (e.g. Megaupload, Rapidshare),

-       dissemination of a work using Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks.​​ [3] These networks are capable of transmitting/sharing huge amounts of data (in the order of several GB to tens of TB). They are the most egregious cases of copyright infringement.

-       interference with computer programs in order to overcome the technical measures of the copyright holder preventing the making of copies of such protected programs (so-called crack),

-       dissemination of a work using data carriers directly between users (lending and subsequent copying of data from DVD, HDD, etc., sale of data carriers and others),

-       recording directly during a projection and subsequent dissemination of the recording (e.g. recording a film work directly from the screen) – camcording,

-       unauthorised screenings of audiovisual works,

-       an actual acquisition of a computer work. A computer program is specially protected and it is not possible to make copies of such work, even for personal use, without the consent of the copyright holders within the meaning of copyright law,

-       use of a computer program in violation of the licence,

-       and more.

The most common forms of audiovisual piracy include, in particular, unauthorised distribution of audiovisual works via computer networks, recording of cinematographic works directly in cinemas and their subsequent “posting” for download in cyberspace, distribution of original media with a film or music in violation of a licence agreement, production and the dissemination of counterfeits of original cinematographic or musical works and the public screening of cinematographic works in breach of a licensing agreement. Furthermore, conduct consisting in the dissemination of software products, interventions in software products, illegal production of software products and the use of software products in violation of the license agreement. Copyright infringement will already be an unauthorised acquisition of a software product without further treatment.

Placing a work (regardless of whether it is audiovisual or software) in cyberspace (upload) means dissemination of the work in the sense of copyright law and (unless allowed by the author or another authorised person) may be punishable. Unauthorised use of a work is also a publication of a link to a place in cyberspace from where a work can be obtained.

For comparison with foreign legislation, it is suitable to mention the French HADOPI law, ^[4] which was supposed to protect against internet piracy. According to this law, a special office was established tasked with detecting illegal downloads of copyrighted material. Those users who downloaded music and movies from the Internet free of charge (excluding freely distributable works) were warned three times, and if these warnings were not heeded, the authority was entitled to disconnect them from the Internet for up to one year. ^[5] However, even such a strict law did not limit the number of illegal downloads of copyrighted works. At the same time, however, it raised a number of questions concerning the admissibility of interference with fundamental human rights and freedoms without a court decision. ^[6] The HADOPI law was repealed on 10 July 2013.

The term “Warez” often appears in connection with Internet piracy. Warez is, very simply put, a form of computer piracy, where information technology is only a means of speeding up the distribution of illegal copies of copyright works over the Internet. Warez forums are currently used mainly to download cracks and keygens, as well as complete modified programs, movies and music. The final product of the warez scene is called release. To protect privacy, clients of warez forums use proxy servers and bouncers to mask their IP address, thus preventing possible monitoring. The actual communication and release offering takes place in private rooms created for this purpose on the Internet, to which only members of the group have access.

Possibilities of criminal sanctions in the Czech Republic

The provision of files, whether within warez or P2P networks, can be punished under Section 270 (Infringement of copyright, rights related to copyright and database rights), or according to Section 231 (Measures and storage of access devices and passwords to the computer system and other such data) of the Criminal Code.

Possibilities of criminal sanctions in Poland

Intellectual property issues in Poland have been regulated by two basic legal acts: the Act on Copyright and Related Rights and the Industrial Property Law Act.

The Penal Code has two Articles about breaching or stealing intellectual property:

Article 115. 1. Whoever appropriates the authorship or misleads as to the authorship of the whole or a part of another person's work or artistic performance, shall be subject to a fine, the penalty of restriction of liberty or the penalty of deprivation of liberty for up to 3 years.

And Article 278 (theft)

§ 1 Whoever takes another's movable property for the purpose of appropriation shall be subject to the penalty of deprivation of liberty for a term of between 3 months and 5 years. § 2 The same punishment shall be imposed on anyone who, without the authorized person's consent, obtains another's computer program for the purpose of gaining a material profit.

 

Possibilities of criminal sanctions in Portugal

In general, such acts are criminalised as unauthorised copying, distribution and selling of works and / or as Counterfeiting of copyrighted works (Arts. 195 and 196 of the Code of Copyright and Related Rights).

On the other hand, the Illegal reproduction of protected computer programme (Art. 8 of Cybercrime Law) and the Illegal reproduction or communication of a copyright protected database (Art. 11 of Decree-Law No. 122/2000)would apply, being the case.