But if the cybersecurity industry has made a convincing case that consumers need to protect their PCs with software and safety rules, are the rest of your gadgets quite so prone to peril?

FORBES

Federal law makes it unlawful to circumvent technological measures employed by copyright owners to protect their property, including software.

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"It is my impression that this law is driven by the desire of some software publishers who want to protect their interests even more than the existing laws allow them to, " Braucher added.

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Large companies are asked to pay an annual fee, as much as 29% of the original licenses cost according to Forrester, to protect themselves against Microsoft releasing a new version of their software!

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Software and tech hardware companies have to protect their secrets and shield their upcoming products from the prying eyes of competition right up to the day they choose to announce.

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Companies have in place their own firewalls and anti-virus software to protect data stored on the premises.

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Newspapers, magazines, photographers and software firms have been looking for a way to protect their copyrights online.

ECONOMIST: The big five hit the web | The

Their main purpose is to protect the freedom of every user of our software.

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Building software into guns need not affect gun owners' desire to protect their homes.

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Graham Cluley, a computer security expert from net security company Sophos, told the BBC that there were ways for computer owners to protect their machines from this type of fraud - for instance, by using up-to-date anti-virus software.

BBC: Luminous keyboard