Vol. 9, No.1:The Internet and Ethiopia’s IP Law, Internet Governance and Legal Education: An Overview

Abstract

The current information age requires intellectual property laws to catch up with and proactively regulate unfolding technological realities. The dynamic advances in the domain of the Internet have thus necessitated corresponding changes in Ethiopia’s intellectual property legal regime including copyright laws in relation with computer programs, databases, online service provision and Digital Rights Management systems (DRMs). New issues are also steadily arising owing to the increasing commercialization of the Internet in relation with the quest for the presence of trade names in cyberspace and protection from similar or confusingly similar trade names. Likewise, the applicability of patent laws to the digital environment and the patentability of software-related inventions are contentious. This article briefly deals with these issues. Also addressed in this article are issues relating to Ethiopia’s roles in the global Internet governance ecosystem, and the extent to which Ethiopian legal education is catching up with the unprecedented changes wrought by the advent of the Internet.