Ensign: Copyright Infringement

The illegal use of Ensign Software programs violates International Treaties and United States Federal Law.   The Digital Millennium Copyright Act became Federal Law on October 28th, 1998.   The Act implements the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty adopted in Geneva on December 20, 1996.   This Law makes it a crime to circumvent anti-piracy measures built into commercial software and outlaws the manufacture, sale, use, or distribution of code-cracking devices used to illegally use or copy software.   As members of WIPO, 179 Countries have adopted the Treaty, including:

Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic,   Dominican Republic, Estonia, France, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Viet Nam.

Sec. 1204. Criminal offenses and penalties
(a) Any person who violates section 1201 or 1202 willfully and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain--

(1) shall be fined not more than $500,000 or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both, for the first offense; and

(2) shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both, for and subsequent offense.

Sec. 1201. Circumvention of copyright protection systems
(a) VIOLATIONS REGARDING CIRCUMVENTION OF TECHNOLOGICAL MEASURES- (1)(A) No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.

(2) No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof, that--

(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title;

(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title; or

(C) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that person with that person's knowledge for use in circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title.

(3) As used in this subsection--

(A) to circumvent a technological measure' means to descramble a scrambled work, to decrypt an encrypted work, or otherwise to avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, or impair a technological measure, without the authority of the copyright owner; and

ADDITIONAL VIOLATIONS-
(1) No person shall manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic in any technology, product, service, device, component, or part thereof, that--

(A) is primarily designed or produced for the purpose of circumventing protection afforded by a technological measure that effectively protects a right of a copyright owner under this title in a work or a portion thereof;

(B) has only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent protection afforded by a technological measure that effectively protects a right of a copyright owner under this title in a work or a portion thereof; or

(C) is marketed by that person or another acting in concert with that person with that person's knowledge for use in circumventing protection afforded by a technological measure that effectively protects a right of a copyright owner under this title in a work or a portion thereof.

(2) As used in this subsection--

(A) to circumvent protection afforded by a technological measure' means avoiding, bypassing, removing, deactivating, or otherwise impairing a technological measure; and

(B) a technological measure effectively protects a right of a copyright owner under this title if the measure, in the ordinary course of its operation, prevents, restricts, or otherwise limits the exercise of a right of a copyright owner under this title.

Sec. 1202. Integrity of copyright management information

(b) REMOVAL OR ALTERATION OF COPYRIGHT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION- 
No person shall, without the authority of the copyright owner or the law--

(1) intentionally remove or alter any copyright management information,

(2) distribute or import for distribution copyright management information knowing that the copyright management information has been removed or altered without authority of the copyright owner or the law.

Article 4 – Computer Programs
Computer programs are protected as literary works.   Such protection applies to computer programs, whatever may be the mode or form of their expression.

Article 14 - Provisions on Enforcement of Rights
(1) Contracting Parties undertake to adopt, in accordance with their legal systems, the measures necessary to ensure the application of this Treaty.

(2) Contracting Parties shall ensure that enforcement procedures are available under their law so as to permit effective action against any act of infringement of rights covered by this Treaty, including expeditious remedies to prevent infringements and remedies which constitute a deterrent to further infringements.