Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of History, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Bachelor thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

published_or_final_version / Computer Science / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This dissertation is an investigation into the practice of peer-to-peer file-sharing and the litigation campaign targeting individual file-sharers carried out by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) from 2003 to 2008. The competing conceptualizations of social relations which motivate the conflict over peer-to-peer file-sharing are explored using a combination of Autonomist Marxist theory and structuration theory. Peer-to-peer file-sharing is framed as part of the social system of commoning stemming from the recent ascendancy of immaterial labor within that sector of the economy dedicated to the production and distribution of informational and cultural goods. The RIAA litigation campaign is framed as a reaction to the emergence of new forms of social relations which are seen by the content-producing industries as subversive of revenue streams premised on commodity exchange in informational and cultural goods. The history of the RIAA litigation campaign is presented in detail with careful attention given to those instances in which defendants and other interested parties fought back against RIAA legal actions. The acts of resistance within the legal arena affected the ultimate potential of the litigation campaign to control the spread of file-sharing activities. Subsequent legal campaigns which have been based on the RIAA litigation model are also examined. These later file-sharing cases have been met with similar forms of resistance which have likewise mitigated the impact of legal efforts to combat file-sharing. In addition, a survey of file-sharers is included in this research as part of an attempt to understand the relationship between legal actions targeting peer-to-peer systems and individual file-sharers and the technological and social development of peer-to-peer systems. This research argues that file-sharing litigation has proven ineffective in turning back the flood of file-sharing and may have increased the technological sophistication and community ties among file-sharers. In the end, the conflict over peer-to-peer file-sharing is cast as a manifestation of a larger dynamic of capitalist crisis as content-producing industries attempt to come to terms with the contradictory tendencies of immaterial labor and the production of common pools of digital resources. / text

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

Correspondence is written forms of communications, for example, SMS, E-mail, or letters, and when something is written, it may constitute a literary work protected by copyright. As there is no formal procedure for acquiring copyright, it is not always easy to determine when it exists and therefore know how to impose common rules. In Sweden, the moment of publication of a literary work is when an author makes his work available to the public. This occurs when a work is presented publicly, displayed publicly, or when copies are distributed to the public. This moment is imperative due to the legal effects that enter into force when a work is published. Until the point in time when a work is published, an author has absolute rights to his work, meaning that it is not possible to use a work legally without the author’s consent. As correspondence is a mean of communication, it is inherent in its nature to be transferred to someone else in order to fulfil its purpose. This means that an author has technically published his work the moment he sends it to someone else. However, arguments are raised in case law that a work cannot be published unless the author has intended it to be. This thesis concludes that both assessments of when a work is published are in fact correct. The important aspect that has to be considered when assessing if a work is published or not, is the intended usage of the protected work. Consequently, one may use the results of this thesis either as an argument to apply unbiased provisions of law, in accordance to their wording, or to apply subjective assessments on a case-to-case basis, in order to find an optimal solution.

The interface between copyright law and competition law has always been a topic of debate in legal and economic circles. Since the last decade however, new economy markets pose new challenges to this interface. Network effects, interconnectivity, rapid innovation, and excludability are characteristics of new economy markets. Particularly network effects can, in connection with copyright protection, increase market power and provoke competition authorities to monitor the exercise of copyrights. / This thesis contains an analysis of the background and underlying principles of Canadian copyright law and competition law. It gives an overview over their interface in the legislation and the impact of competition policy on copyright litigation. It also examines the Intellectual Property Enforcement Guidelines that were issued by the Canadian Competition Bureau in September 2000. / The thesis concludes that competition law and copyright law are complementary instruments that serve the same goals. The two bodies of law are drafted so that they would not oppose one another. Instead of curbing copyright protection through competition policy enforcement, new challenges posed by new economy markets should be met by rethinking copyright policy and protection in these markets.

With the digital revolution within video games, the need for Digital Rights Management (DRM) has increased significantly, alongside with the increasing problem of copyright pirates. To counter pirates, DRM was created to prevent illegal copying of software, this to ensure that the Distributors received an income for their work. DRM has, since the start of its use, been getting, a lot of bad criticism from the users of the software protected by DRM.  The main function of this paper is to describe the creation and development of DRM by analysis of the vision of different groups on this phenomenon. The main questions are as follows, is it possible to define the very reason for why DRM was created and if so, can its development through time be defined too? What differences in opinions are there when it comes to DRM, counting the two major groups of creators, sellers, distributors (referred to as distributors) versus individual users (referred to as consumers)? In what way will the research results suggest that the future DRM will develop? The development has gone from solving puzzles in a handbook to start the game each time the user wants to play, to serial numbers that is needed during the installation of the game. Even more extreme measures has been taken, consisting of the installation of an external software to verify the license key and ensure that no illegal actions were taken.  Distributors have shown through the years that the use of DRM is a must to protect their games from piracy. With the years that gone by, the DRM-system has developed into a more advanced software protection system and with this more problems have begun to emerge affecting the legal consumers, like errors preventing the users from playing the game. At the same time Distributors show little interest to remove or lower the usage of DRM. Users believe that the removal of DRM is the perfect solution, but discard the fact that a software without any kind of copy protection would risk not to generate any income at all for the developers.  When we consider now and then, we can see distinct patterns of continuing development of DRM-methods that do not create the same amount of issues for the consumers. The problem however previously addressed by DRM to stop illegal copies has now shifted to whether the consumers have the right to modify or change their purchased games.

The purpose of this research is to study the factors influencing the attitude of male academic librarians towards copyright laws in Saudi Arabia. The Tripartite Model is used to evaluate the overall attitude of academic librarians, defined in terms of three main components: feelings, beliefs, and behaviors. Five independent variables that may affect this attitude are investigated: level of education, domain of practice, position, professional experience, and academic librarians’ knowledge of copyright laws as measured by six pre-selected questions (knowledge Index). The knowledge Index is also later measured against the four other independent variables. Seven major universities were chosen, and 201 male academic librarians participated in this study. A survey method is adopted for collecting data, and a quantitative approach is used to measure the relationship between attitude and the independent variables. The results reveal that academic librarians in Saudi Arabia have a positive attitude, but inadequate knowledge, regarding copyright laws. Only one independent variable—the level of education—is found to be related to the belief component of attitude. While the level of knowledge based on the knowledge Index does not affect attitude, it is correlated with levels of education, experience, and position. This study demonstrates the need for improving librarians’ education and training in Saudi Arabia regarding copyright laws. It also reveals the importance of librarians’ input in copyright laws. / Le but de cette recherche est d’étudier les facteurs qui influencent l’attitude des bibliothécaires académiques masculins menvers les lois sur les droits d’auteur en Arabie saoudite. Le modèle ternaire est utilisé afin d’évaluer l’attitude générale de ces bibliothécaires; ses trois composantes sont les sentiments, les croyances et les comportements. Cinq variables indépendantes qui pourraient affecter les bibliothécaires sont examinées: le niveau de scolarité, le domaine de travail, le poste, l’expérience professionnelle et les connaissances qu’ont les bibliothécaires des lois des droits d’auteur. Cette dernière variable est aussi évaluée par l’entremise d’un questionnaire divisé en six points, l’index des connaissances. Celui-ci est comparé ensuite aux quatre autres variables. Dans le cadre de cette étude, nous avons recruté 201 participants, tous des bibliothécaires académiques masculins provenant des sept (7) universités les plus reconnus. La méthode du sondage est utilisée pour la collecte des données, et une approche quantitative est employée afin d’évaluer la relation entre l’ «attitude» et les variables indépendantes. Les résultats dévoilent que les bibliothécaires académiques en Arabie saoudite ont une attitude positive, mais qu’ils manquent de connaissances à propos des lois des droits d’auteur. Une seule variable indépendante - le niveau de scolarité - s’avère reliée à la composante des «croyances» de cette attitude positive. Même si le niveau de connaissances, basé sur l’index, n’affecte pas l’attitude, il correspond aux niveaux de scolarité, de l’expérience professionnelle et du poste qu’occupe le bibliothécaire. Cette étude démontre clairement qu’il faut améliorer la scolarité et la formation des bibliothécaires en Arabie saoudite concernant les lois des droits d’auteur. Elle dévoile aussi que les bibliothécaires devraient avoir un mot à dire sur l

The objective of this thesis is to demonstrate, through analysis of the current Canadian Copyright Act and related cases, how the rapid development of Internet technology has challenged the legal protection of musical works under Canadian copyright legislation and jurisprudence. Canadian government and courts have begun contemplating these issues and attempted to formulate constitutional reform policies and effective measures for Canada. These initiatives related to copyright protection of musical works reflect a sophisticated analysis of each participant involved in music transmission through the Internet and are unique in this way. More flexible business mechanisms may contribute towards the achievement of a delicate balance between all the parties involved under the copyright umbrella.