Middle Eastern Religious Perspectives on Software Piracy :: Computers

Middle Eastern Religious Perspectives on Software piracyIntroduction Illegal parcel (pirated, illegally copied, etc) in the Middle East is a rampant problem. It is estimated that 74% of software in Lebanon is illegal, while 37% of software in Israel is illegal1. The lack of intellectual property laws has been sited for the problem even with these laws being introduced it might not resolve the issue. Though joining the World Trade composition (as many Middle Eastern countries have recently done) forces the countries to officially recognize copyright law will this affect the citizens view of copyright? religious belief is a fundamental part of the Middle East with some countries laws derived from religious text. I believe by analysis of religious texts and law I layabout hope to gain attitude into the views on software piracy. I will focus on Jewish law and Islamic Fatwas. Once the religious perspective on copyright is derived I will analysis if the religious perspective ho lds up to general ethical analysis. My goal is not to judge (e.g. say copy of software is wrong therefore those who copy software are bad), but rather gain insight into the religious perspectives towards software piracy.Jewish Law (Torah)Torah has the sideline meanings2 1. A scroll made from kosher animal parchment, with the entire text of the Five Books of Moses written in it by a sofer ritual scribe. This is the most limited definition.2. more than often, this term means the text of the Five Books of Moses, written in any format, whether Torah scroll, paper back book, CD-ROM, sky-writing or any other media. Any printed version of the Torah (with or without commentary) can be called a Chumash or Pentateuch. However, one never refers to a Torah Scroll as a Chumash3. The term Torah can mean the entire star of Jewish law This includes the Written and the Oral Law, which includes the Mishna, the Midras h, the Talmud,