Internet Plagiarism: Liable to Ḥadd or Ta‘zīr?

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• ‘Alī Akbar Īzadīfard
• Alī Pīrdihī Ḥājīkulā

10.22067/fiqh.v0i0.3163

Abstract

One of the newly emerged issues in global communications and cyberspace is Internet plagiarism, which due to the lack of a codified law is unfortunately increasing in the number of its perpetrators. On the other hand, we know that the nature of Internet plagiarism, which is committed within the cyberspace, is different from that which takes place in real world. Thus, the question comes up as to whether the Internet plagiarism is the same as the theft commonly known in jurisprudence. How are the conditions materialized? Is in Internet plagiarism, as in physical (property) theft, the proprietor deprived of their property? Are data and information considered to be property? Is cracking a code (a password) an evidence of violation of privacy? What is the penal punishment for Internet plagiarism? Is it ḥadd (prescribed punishment) or ta‘zīr (discretionary punishment)?
In this article, we aim at answering the above questions while elucidating the nature of Internet plagiarism, and eventually, considering Internet plagiarism to be liable to ta‘zīr merely
because of the non-materialization of one of the conditions for theft – i.e. physical appropriation – as well as presenting a new method in discretionary punishment of a plagiarist user.
Keywords: Internet plagiarism, physical theft, ḥadd, ta‘zīr.

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