IPR issues in the digital domain

Singapore_s Parliament passed amendments to the Copyright Act that extend it into digital areas not previously covered and also clarify the existing laws for the Internet. This latter area also spells out the liability that network service providers carry concerning copyright material traveling over their networks and when such material is held in a Web cache. The Copyright (Amendment) Bill 1999 was passed after its second reading on August 17 after being introduced to parliament on August 3. It is the product of a study into intellectual property rights (IPR) issues in the digital domain. The Registry of Trade Marks & Patents formed an Electronic Commerce Committee in 1998 to look into the issue and its recommendations were crafted into the bill after consultation with the industry. Amendments included in the bill broadly fall into two categories: extensions to existing laws to cover the multimedia and digital arenas and clarifications to existing laws to make clear the position of Internet users and intermediaries.