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Copyright Management and Control Systems: Metering Hardware Devices Those have to be acquired and installed by the user. For example under a debit card approach, the user purchases a debit card that is pre-loaded with a certain amount of value. After installation, the debit card is debited automatically as the user consumes copyrighted works. Digital Certificates Hereby a certification authority issues to a user an electronic file that identifies the user as the owner of a public key. Those digital certificates, besides Centralized Computing Under this approach all of the executables remain at the server. Each time the executable is used, the user's computer must establish contact with the server, allowing the central computer to meter access. Access Codes Access code devices permit users to "unlock" protective mechanisms (e.g. date bombs or functional limitations) embedded in copyrighted works. Copyright owners can meter the usage of their works, either by unlocking the Copyright Clearinghouses Under this approach copyright owners would commission "clearinghouses" with the ability to license the use of their works. A user would pay a license fee to obtain rights concerning the intellectual property. |
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Copyright Management and Control Systems: Pre-Infringement Pre-infringement Contracts Contracts are a pre-infringement control method, which very often is underestimated. Properly formed contracts enable copyright holders to restrict the use of their works in excess of the rights granted under copyright laws. Copy Protection This approach was standard in the 1980s, but rejected by consumers and relatively easy to break. Still copy protection, whereby the vendor limits the number of times a file can be copied, is used in certain situations. Limited Functionality This method allows copyright owners to provide a copy of the work, which is functionally limited. Software creators, for example, can distribute software that cannot print or save. A fully functional version has to be bought from the vendor. Date Bombs Here the intellectual property holder distributes a fully functional copy but locks off access at a pre-specified date or after a certain number of uses. |
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Recent "Digital Copyright" Legislation: European Union Directive on Copyright and Related Rights in the Information Society In November 1996 the European Commission adopted a communication concerning the follow-up to the Green Paper on - the legal protection of computer programs - rental right, lending right and certain rights related to copyright in the field of - copyright and related rights applicable to broadcasting of programs by satellite and cable retransmission - the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights - the legal protection of databases The proposal was first presented by the Commission in January 1998, amended in May 1999 and currently is at second reading before the Parliament. Final adoption of the Directive could take place at the end of 2000 or the beginning of 2001 respectively. A full-text version for download (pdf file) of the amended proposal for a Directive on copyright and related rights in the Information Society is available on the website of the European Commission (DG Internal Market): General critique concerning the proposed EU Directive includes: - Open networks The new law could require (technological) surveillance of communications to ensure enforcement. Also because Service Providers might be legally liable for transmitting unauthorized copies, the might in turn have to deny access to anybody who could not provide them with financial guaranties or insurance. - Interoperable systems The draft could negate the already established right in EU law for software firms to make their systems interoperable with the dominant copyright protected systems. This would be a threat to the democratic and economic rights of users. - Publicly available information It is yet unclear whether new legal protections against the bypassing of Comments from the library, archives and documentation community on the amended Directive embrace: The Library Association EBLIDA (European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations) Society of Archivists (U.K.) and Public Record Office (U.K.) EFPICC (European Fair Practices In Copyright Campaign) |
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First Monday An English language peer reviewed media studies journal based in Denmark. http://firstmonday.dk |
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Chemical Banking Corporation In 1996 the firm, which was by then the second-largest bank in the United States, merged with another New York-based bank, The Chase Manhattan Corporation, to form the largest bank in the nation. Though the Chemical Banking Corporation had been the larger partner in the merger, the resulting firm was called The Chase Manhattan Corporation. |
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Next Generation Internet Program A research and development program funded by the US government. Goal is the development of advanced networking technologies and applications requiring advanced networking with capabilities that are 100 to 1,000 times faster end-to-end than today's Internet. http://www.ngi.gov |
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