Views: Intellectual Property (IP) Law in Sri Lanka

One of the modules that we had for this semester was "Professional Practice". In between all the talks about ethics, morality and whistle blowing we had a few lectures on SL IP law conducted by Mr. Jayantha Fernando. According to him, Sri Lanka has implemented alot of reforms to meet up with the standards of the EU, the TRIPS agreement (whatever that maybe) and the WIPO standards.

It's strange though to hear that computer programmes are protected along the same lines as works of literature. I don't think programmers go through the grueling process of coming up with a unique idea, wrestling with it for months or years and finally getting down to
putting everything down in words.


I've tried both writing and computer programming and I find a programming a breeze compared to writing anything remotely creative. But the wierd thing is software and other content, if downloaded, doesn't appear to be clearly addressed by any of these laws.