This thesis deals with problems associated with the distribution of the electronic books. Those problems are mainly caused by the use of the digital rights management technologies and techniques. In the thesis those technologies and techniques are further explored as there are several stakeholder groups identified who are affected by them. It also explores ethical aspects of using those technologies and techniques and those aspects are then used as one of the starting points of the design of an alternative approach to the digital rights management. This approach is the primary objective of this thesis.

Video game developers have implemented multiple measures to combat piracy throughout history. One of these measures, defined in this study as in-game anti-piracy measures, prevents player progression on unauthorized copies by degrading gameplay or drastically increasing the difficulty.This study conducts a content analysis research on textual data gathered from the world wide web to assess the public perception in regards to this type of anti-piracy measures. The data gathered for this study consists of 425 statements in the form of comments and forum posts that have been coded, divided into themes and then analyzed inductively to generate findings that can be linked to Moshirnia’s (2012) previous research.Even though no clear results occurred that can confirm Moshirnia’s (2012) findings, this study has discovered a potential connection between in-game anti-piracy measures promoting piracy. The findings also suggest that the unique “broke features” might lead to the popularization of games modded to let legitimate users experience them too.

While digital connectivity in East Africa is quickly increasing, the region is underregulated regarding data protection regulations. Moreover, many existing laws are more state-interest-focused than human rights-based. When comprehensive regulations are not in place, more significant regulatory pressure is put on the actors operating in the tech market. Theoretically and conceptually, this accountability can be described through conceptual models such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR).  Organisations use the two frameworks to map and manage their impact on society from an economic, environmental, and societal perspective. While CSR deals with their effects from a more general point of view, CDR has recently emerged in the business ethics discourse to discuss the ethical considerations evolving from the exponential growth of digital technologies and data.     Through a multiple case study design, the main objective of this study was to provide practical insight into how actors manage data privacy-related issues in East Africa. Furthermore, the aim was also to evaluate the existing barriers that prevent the actors from fully implementing higher data responsibility ambitions.   The results reveal that the observed actors are aware of the existing risks and mature enough to develop a comprehensive data responsibility agenda. However, there seems to be a gap between developing the policies and implementing them in practice. The lack of context-adjusted approaches to the CSR/CDR-related guidelines and actions can explain the gap.

No description available.

Research regarding e-book management at academic libraries is scarce, especially referring to Swedish university libraries. The work with e-books regarding selection, acquisition, promotion etc. can give insight into the stance towards e-books and their use at Swedish academic libraries. Challenges and problems such as accessibility, licensing as well as DRM restrictions may hinder e-books from becoming worthy complements to printed books. This thesis gives more insight into the acquisition, work and distribution and general working processes with e-books at Swedish academic libraries. A total of eight Swedish university libraries with 13 representatives agreed to participate in semi-structured interviews. The main results are that selection and acquisition of e-books are both influenced by librarians themselves and by user demand, and that e-books are frequently used and sometimes even favored over print books. Complex licensing and DRM restrictions may lead to e-books not being fully appreciated, which is further complicated due to a lack of promotion of e-books by academic libraries. Academic e-books are offered in English due to a lack of Swedish titles. In some situations, print books are acquired, e.g. if electronic titles are not available or too expensive. Both formats have advantages and disadvantages regarding access, availability, usage and preference. While print books are cheaper and offer a tactile experience, e-books can be read by multiple users simultaneously and do not require storage space in contrast to print books.

<div>In a potentially hostile networked environment, a large diversity of security mechanisms with varying degree of sophistication are being deployed to protect valuable computer systems and digital assets. </div><div><br></div><div>While many competing implementations of similar security mechanisms are available in the current software development landscape, the robustness and reliability of such implementations are often overlooked, resulting in exploitable flaws in system deployments. In this dissertation, we systematically evaluate implementations of security mechanisms that are deployed in the wild. First, we examine how content distribution applications on the Android platform control access to their multimedia contents. With respect to a well-defined hierarchy of adversarial capabilities and attack surfaces, we find that many content distribution applications, including that of some world-renowned publications and streaming services, are vulnerable to content extraction due to the use of unjustified assumptions in their security mechanism designs and implementations. Second, we investigate the validation logic of X.509 certificate chains as implemented in various open-source TLS libraries. X.509 certificates are widely used in TLS as a means to achieve authentication. A validation logic that is overly restrictive could lead to the loss of legitimate services, while an overly permissive implementation could open door to impersonation attacks. Instead of manual analysis and unguided fuzzing, we propose a principled approach that leverages symbolic execution to achieve better coverage and uncover logical flaws that are buried deep in the code. We find that many TLS libraries deviate from the specification. Finally, we study the verification of RSA signatures, as specified in the PKCS#1 v1.5 standard, which is widely used in many security-critical network protocols. We propose an approach to automatically generate meaningful concolic test cases for this particular problem, and design and implement a provenance tracking mechanism to assist root-cause analysis in general. Our investigation revealed that several crypto and IPSec implementations are susceptible to new variants of the Bleichenbacher low-exponent signature forgery.</div>

本研究是探討如何運用語意網規則語言(Semantic Web Rule Language, SWRL)來表示網路上的數位版權管理(DRM)。以XML為主的版權表達語言(Rights Expression Language, REL)因為無法處理具有語意內涵層級的版權管理規則，所以在概念表達和處理能力上有所限制。因此，我們運用了結合本體論(Ontology)和規則(Rule)語言的SWRL來探討比較現有XML為主的版權表達語言的不足，並以實作驗證本體論和規則結合所具有語意特性，讓使用者能在網路上加以應用數位內容。 / In this research, we show how to use Semantic Web Rule language (Semantic Web Rule Language, SWRL) for the digit rights management (DRM) on the Web. Since XML-based Rights Expression Languages (REL) can not deal with the right management policies at the semantic level, their expression abilities for concept descriptions are limited. Therefore, we use SWLR to contrast the insufficiencies in existing XML-based RELs. In summary, we take advantage of semantic-supported REL for DRM systems on the Web.

This thesis both draws from and contributes to the ongoing project of critiquing and reconstructing the theory of the public sphere; an undertaking that has been characterised as both valuable and necessary by Fraser (2005: 2) and many others. The subsection of theory variously described as ‘postmodern’, ‘radical’, or ‘agonistic’ informs an intensive practical and theoretical critique of the pre- and post-‘linguistic turn’ iterations of the Habermasian ideal, before culminating in the articulation of a concise and operationalisable ‘neo-Habermasian’ public sphere ideal. This revised model retains the Habermasian public sphere as its core, but expands and sensitizes it, moving away from normative preoccupations with decision-making in order to effectively comprehend issues of power and difference, and to allow publicness “to navigate through wider and wilder territory” (Ryan, 1992: 286). This theoretical framework is then mobilised through a critical discourse analytical approach, exploring three cases of hacktivist counterpublicity, and revealing the emergence of a multivalent, multimodal discourse genre capable of threatening and fracturing hegemony. The case studies are selected using Samuel’s (2004) taxonomy of hacktivism, and explore the ‘political coding’ group, Hacktivismo; the Creative Freedom Foundation and the ‘performative hacktivism’ of their New Zealand Internet Blackout; and the ‘political cracking’ operations carried out by Anonymous in protest against the Australian government’s proposed Internet filter. The analysis focuses on how the discursive form and content of hacktivism combines to function counterhegemonically; that is, how hacktivists work to provoke widespread political preference reflection and fracture the hegemony of the publics they are oriented against. This approach generates a fruitful feedback loop between theory and empirical data, in that it enriches and extends our understanding of new modes of counterpublicity, as well as providing a detailed account of the under-researched yet increasingly widespread phenomenon of hacktivism.

El principal objetivo de éste proyecto de investigación es la definición de una arquitectura que permita la protección y gestión de los derechos digitales en un entorno de gestión de contenido multimedia, siguiendo estándares abiertos siempre que sea posible. A fin de conseguir dicho objetivo, se analizarán y considerarán múltiples estándares e iniciativas relacionados.En primer lugar se aborda la definición de una arquitectura preliminar basada en MPEG-21 que permite la protección y gestión de los derechos digitales (DRM) aplicables a contenido multimedia. Más adelante, se presenta una arquitectura genérica y se describen diferentes implementaciones desarrolladas en proyectos nacionales y europeos, como AXMEDIS, VISNET II, Linked-Work y GILDDA. El análisis incluye casos de uso, aspectos de seguridad y la propuesta de una metodología de prueba o test. En el caso de Linked-Work, se detalla una implementación específica, resaltando los conceptos clave que la hacen diferente de otros sistemas de DRM. / The main goal of this research project is to define a generic architecture for the protection and management of digital rights in a multimedia content management scenario following open standards as much as possible. In order to achieve this goal, several standards and initiatives will be analysed and taken into account.First, a MPEG-21-based preliminary architecture for the protection and management of digital rights for multimedia content is tackled. Later on, a more general architecture is defined. Several implementations are described such as those in several Spanish and European projects such as AXMEDIS, VISNET II, Linked-Work and GILDDA. The focus in made on use cases, security features and a testing methodology. Linked-Work details a specific implementation, emphasising on the key concepts that make it different from other kind of DRM systems.

Zugl.: München, Universiẗat, Diss., 2008.