The 'Facebook online social experiment' has caused much controversy. Researchers Cornelius Puschmann and Engin Bozdag review the debate around research ethics and come to the conclusion that "benefits for science should be balanced with possible hazards that may be caused by experiments, rather than precluding that such benefits outweigh the gains".
News and Research articles on United States of America
This paper examines how various stakeholders in the 2014 EC consultation on copyright attempted to shape the definition of user-generated content and what this means for the reform of copyright in Europe.
Recognising the concept of constitutionalisation of virtual worlds (such as Second Life or World of Warcraft), this paper argues for a more nuanced approach towards the recognition of virtual assets of users.
The way we handle digital assets post-mortem is a young field of inquiry and it is researcher Edina Harbinja's sandbox. Journalist Philippa Warr takes a look at the issues.
The Aero case encapsulates a dilemma facing courts in the US and EU – that a ruling to shut down a company, on the basis that it is unlawful under copyright law, could threaten innovation in areas such as the cloud.
Chief Policy Officer of the US Patent and Trademark Office addresses UK Intellectual Property Office
As the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) prepares to consult interest groups on copyright policy during the course of 2015, Elena Cooper takes stock on the current US approach, as presented in a briefing by USPTO’s Chief Policy Officer, Shira Perlmutter.
Let's Play is a video showing someone playing a videogame. This, we know. What is less known, is that game developers are not all amused by the growing phenomenon. The copyright bell is ringing.
Germany’s largest telecommunications operator for the first time on 5 May 2014 published a ‘transparency report’ on surveillance requests by German authorities. Kirsten Gollatz reveals how this new statitical input fits into the larger picture.
The Netherlands is among the few countries that have put specific net neutrality standards in place. In this op-ed, Nico van Eijk verifies whether the rules are working or if they are just another example of symbolic regulation.
If you do not see a policeman outside of your door, you are looking out of the wrong window. Read this scholarly essay as an analogy of privacy violations.
There are significant dangers in surveilling online communications unless the mechanisms and policies of surveillance are subject to strict and legally enforceable standards of transparency, oversight, and control.
KEYWORDS:
Surveillance, Intelligence services, Base rate fallacy, Interception, Fundamental principles, Predictive algorithms, Privacy, Security, Content data, Communications data, Bundestrojaner, National Security Agency (NSA), PRISM, Tempora, Encryption, Liability, Transparency, Cyber security, Content, Censorship, Filtering
Despite a flurry of commitments, real open data progress seems slow, according to a new census. And then, there are governments excelling in both open and secret data.
We knew the US (and other governments) were watching us, many politicians and engineers said after The Guardian and the Washington Post published information about the spy programme PRISM, which allows US agencies access to all of your whereabouts on the net.
In early December 2012, the European Commission released a study on collaborative eGovernment. Drawing on case studies, the 150-page report makes policy recommendations to foster citizen participation in eGov. But how can companies do their share in ‘participatory eGov’?