This Master thesis is a contribution to develope Multimedia security mechanisms for various P2P file sharing environments. Objective of this research thesis is to design a software tool for Multimedia business environments to fight against the copyright infringement in various P2P file sharing networks. In order to fulfil this objective, a combined implementation of two independent mechanisms designed at Fraunhofer IPSI is required. So far, the combined implementation does not yet exist for any P2P network. So, the first objective is to design a most comprehensive architecture for their implementation and the second objective is to validate that implementation built on top of the architecture. To do so, we have chosen BitTorrent network for implementation and validation. / The main objective of this research thesis work is to design a software tool for identifying copyright violated works in various P2P networks. In fact, P2P networks are the prominent networks for such copyright violations. To do so, a combined implementation of two independent mechanisms described in chapter 2 is required. This combined implementation prior to this thesis work had not existed in the form of a concrete software tool. So, the first objective is to design a most comprehensive architecture for their implementation and the second objective is to validate that implementation built on our architecture. Hence we have chosen BitTorrent network for implementation and validation. The mechanisms we addressed in our implementation are: Passive Mechanism: Digital Watermarking is the passive mechanism which is used to add information to multimedia files to be protected. This active part is just used to achieve our goal but not focused in validation because of the reason mentioned in the 1.4 section Active Search Mechanism: In order to fight against illegal copies an active search mechanism scanning for potential copyright violations is needed. Any P2P network implementation must maintain this framework extendable to other P2P networks. This is the area focused in validation phase. / gansudkum@gmail.com

When Napster was first launched on the Internet in August of 1999 by young programmer, Shawn Fanning, the intension was that the platform would easily link Internet users with the free MP3 downloads they sought out on the web. By the time an injunction against the platform was granted and upheld by a state then federal court, Napster had made a far bigger impact than simply linking music listeners with free downloads. The proceedings of A & M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc. through the District Court Northern District of California then the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit acted to test the applicability of copyright protections that had been legislatively heightened throughout the 1990’s and built the framework for specifications for copyright protection on the Internet. Even after fifteen years of being offline, the peer-to-peer platform still remains a household name due to the influence Napster had on shaping music consumers’ expectations of access to digital music as well as distributors’ practices. Through a review of A & M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc. in the district and appellate courts I will explore the workings of the Napster platform and the legal issues surrounding it - with an emphasis on vicarious copyright infringement, contributory copyright infringement, the application of the DMCA, and the application of the substantial non-infringing use doctrine to software technologies, as established by Sony Corporation of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. I conclude that Napster has had a resounding legal, psychological, and technical impact on both the distribution and consumption of music in the digital space.

The main goal of this thesis is to analyse to what extent piracy on today's Internet is spread; who is responsible for unlawfully shared files from the legal point of view; how it is fought against copyright infringement; how it is possible to identify a person being responsible for copyright infringement and with what kind of punishment the person is to be charged. Moreover, this thesis focuses on in what way the issues mentioned above could develop and presents an outline of legislation changes which would lead to more effective copyright enforcing. The main reason why I have chosen the topic "The Internet and copyright - the scope of responsibility of particular subjects (webhosting, the Internet provider…) and means of protection against piracy (the pirate identification and their punishment…)" is that I find this law field very dynamic and likely to develop further, which makes it appropriate for my future career. What is more, I am close and interested in IT myself. I also believe that the real "boom" of lawsuits has not come to the Czech Republic yet resulting in a good opportunity. This work is divided into nine chapters, each chapter being split into several subchapters following the logical order. In the first chapter the reader is informed that piracy and fighting against it is not a...

Web 2.0 and the new decentralized, many-to-many technosocial tolls empower consumers and users to reproduce, and distribute content on their own and without permission, shifting the boundaries of participation. Alternative collaborative communities that produce and distribute information, knowledge and culture without seeking profit or operating hierarchically challenge and/or correct commercial entities. This thesis deals with such a variety of collaborative community: the scanlation community. It explores, describes and explains what differences there are in the practices and understandings of scanlators, with a special focus on their attitudes towards legal ownership and profit motives.  The main research question is: How do scanlators understand their cultural production, reproduction and distribution practices; with a special focus on which meanings do they ascribe to copyright infringement and the anti-profit motive? In particular, the study provides answers to the following questions: How do some become scanlators? What are the motives of the scanlators? How is scanlation organized? How is it managed? Which beliefs underpin it? Further impacts on and implications for the cultural industry of manga and the society at the level of politics, economy, and culture are taken into account and disccussed. Bruns' produsage based model of collaborative content production and usage is taken here as the main theoretical tool to analyze the participants, processes and principles of the scanlation community. Other concepts derived from fans studies and the political economy of media and communication complement the theoretical framework. Twenty qualitative interviews with individuals contributors to the collaborative process of content creation in a variety of groups were conducted.  The analysis of the results of the research suggests that scanlators collaborate in competition and cooperation with their open, free, ad hoc and heterarchical alternative model of (unauthorized) manga tranlation, reproduction and distribution to correct the many shortcomings of the traditional model: it is free, faster and universally accessible; whereas the latter is expensive, slow, and geo-locked. Moreover, scanlators recognize author's moral rights and do not a priori disregard copyrights, but criticize licensing and rights handling mechanisms together with economic and political censorship. Finally, although they do not want to be paid for their free affective labour, they are not adverse to commercial approaches to their produsage, if these take place on their own terms. This thesis serves as a contribution for the better understanding of communal produsage practices, by the produsers themselves.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 528-550).

published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Autorinių teisių pažeidimas ir plagiatas turi keletą aiškių paviršinių panašumų ir giliau paslėptų, ne taip aiškiai matomų skirtumų. Panašumai pasireiškia tiek plagijuojant, tiek pažeidžiant autorines teises, dažniausiai be kūrinio autoriaus leidimo yra kopijuojami svetimi darbai, tiek plagiatas, tiek autorinės teisės yra susiję su kūrybiniu procesu, kūrinių originalumu, autorystės pripažinimu ir siekia apsaugoti autorius, kad jų kūriniai nebūtų naudojami netinkamai. Būtent dėl šių akivaizdžių panašumų tarp plagiato ir autorinių teisių pažeidimo, kai kurie asmenys šiuos du dalykus supainioja. Žmonės pažvelgę į šią klaidingo sutapatinimo problemą giliau, teigia atvirkščiai ir plagiato su autorinių teisių pažeidimu visiškai nesulygina. Jų manymu plagiatas nėra teisinis terminas ir nebūtinai reiškia autorinių teisių pažeidimą, tai daugiau etikos nusižengimas darantis žalą akademinių institucijų ar pavienių asmenų reputacijai, kenkiantis mokslo pažangai ir kurybiniam procesui. Remiantis tarptautiniais ir nacionaliniais teisės aktais, moksline literatūra ir teismų praktika darbe yra atskleidžiama plagiato ir autorinių teisių pažeidimo sampratos Lietuvoje ir užsienio šalyse bei nustatinėjamas santykis tarp plagiato ir autorinių teisių pažeidimo. Autorių teisės ir autorinių teisių pažeidimo sąvoka yra aiškiai apibrėžta įstatymuose, aprašyta mokslinėje literatūroje, teismų prakitkoje, LR ATPK ir BK, įstatymai suderinti su Europos sąjungos direktyvomis bei tarptautinėmis sutartimis... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Copyright infringement and plagiarism have some clear similarities between them and deeper hidden, not so clearly visible differences. The similarities between plagiarism and copyright infringement are usually seen as copying someone’s work without permission from the author of that work, both are also concerned with the creative process and matters of originality and authorship. Both seek to prevent free riding on the work of others. Because of these obvious similarities plagiarism and copyright infringement are often confused. Scholars that study this problem of confusion say the opposite, they do not agree that copyright infringement and plagiarism are the same. They think plagiarism is not a legal term and does not necessarily imply a copyright infringement, it is more ethical misconduct that harms the academic institutions or individual's reputation, affecting the progress of science and the creative process. According to international and national legislation, the scientific literature and case law this thesis reveals the conception of plagiarism and copyright infringement in Lithuania and foreign countries and determines relation and intersection between copyright infringement and plagiarism. Author’s copyrights and copyright infringement are clearly defined by law, described in scientific literature, case law, Lithuanian penal and administrative codes and is in line with European Union directives and international treaties. However, plagiarism is not defined by law... [to full text]

Older adults inadvertently plagiarize more than young adults (McCabe, Smith, & Parks, 2007). One current explanation proposes that this effect can be understood in terms of age-related declines in working and episodic memory (McCabe et al., 2007). The current study tested this hypothesis by placing groups of young and older adult participants under divided attention while performing within the typical experimental paradigm. Results indicated that for some measures, dividing the attention of young adults equated their performance to older adults with full attention. For other measures, older adults still produced more errors. Except for false recall, regression analyses revealed that episodic and working memory accounted for age-related variance in these plagiarism errors. The current findings provide tenuous support for the McCabe et al. (2007) hypothesis and suggest other factors may be at play.

Thesis (LL. M.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2008. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.