The Software IP Detective’s Handbook: Measurement, Comparison, and Infringement Detection

2. Intellectual Property Crime

Intellectual property infringement and theft are problems of growing concern for two specific entities—universities and corporations. With the pervasiveness of the Internet and the effectiveness of search engines, students in programming courses can now easily find existing code that solves large sections of their homework and exam problems, if not all of it. While this can often be a legal use of the found code, it is often a case of plagiarism if the student does not disclose the source. Also, it may constitute copyright infringement if the owner of the code does not allow such copying. In corporations, source code theft is also a problem, particularly because of the mobility of employees and the ease with which ...