Kazakhstan takes Steppes to prevent MS misappropriation

Kazakh Steppe (small extract)

News travels fast from the US and other hi-tech instant message jurisdictions, but it reaches the 1709 Blog in a more stately fashion when it comes from the Kazakh Steppe. Still, better late than never!  On 14 October of last year the Kazakhstan Ministry of Justice issued Order No. 279 regulating the protection of unpublished works, specifically the delivery, acceptance and storage of unpublished manuscripts.  A news item from Petosevic reports that

According to paragraph 3 of the Order, the Order entered into force ten calendar days after its first publication, which was on 12 January 2011 in the national newspaper Kazakhstanskaya Pravda. 

The new regulations were drafted in accordance with the Kazakhstan Law on Copyright and Related Rights and aim to prevent misuse and misappropriation of unpublished works. 

The Justice Ministry has appointed the Committee for Intellectual Property Rights as the authority responsible for protection of unpublished works.

How refreshing, when everyone else seems to be worrying out file-sharing and pursuing the Golden Grail of a copyright-proof business model for the digital age, that here at least is an issue that depends more on matters of principle than in trends of technology.  But what might have prompted this legislation at this particular time? A severe outbreak of manuscript-rustling?

Source: Kazakhstan PTO, via "Kazakhstan New Regulations on Protection of Unpublished Works", Petosevic