467 research outputs found
Copyright, Private Copying, and Discrete Public Goods
Understanding if, and when, copyright should attempt to proscribe private copying deserves far more than the simplistic treatment it has so far received from a handful of courts. This Essay aims to begin that conversation. Part I begins by introducing simple models that compare the market and socially optimal production of continuous and discrete public goods models and discussing their implications for copyright. Part II will then focus on the limits of the market\u27s ability to produce efficiently discrete public goods in the absence of government intervention. Part III will then consider the implications of the discrete public goods model for copyright. Finally, in Part IV, I offer some concluding thoughts
Copyright, Private Copying, and Discrete Public Goods
Understanding if, and when, copyright should attempt to proscribe private copying deserves far more than the simplistic treatment it has so far received from a handful of courts. This Essay aims to begin that conversation. Part I begins by introducing simple models that compare the market and socially optimal production of continuous and discrete public goods models and discussing their implications for copyright. Part II will then focus on the limits of the market\u27s ability to produce efficiently discrete public goods in the absence of government intervention. Part III will then consider the implications of the discrete public goods model for copyright. Finally, in Part IV, I offer some concluding thoughts
Study of Peer-to-Peer Network Based Cybercrime Investigation: Application on Botnet Technologies
The scalable, low overhead attributes of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Internet
protocols and networks lend themselves well to being exploited by criminals to
execute a large range of cybercrimes. The types of crimes aided by P2P
technology include copyright infringement, sharing of illicit images of
children, fraud, hacking/cracking, denial of service attacks and virus/malware
propagation through the use of a variety of worms, botnets, malware, viruses
and P2P file sharing. This project is focused on study of active P2P nodes
along with the analysis of the undocumented communication methods employed in
many of these large unstructured networks. This is achieved through the design
and implementation of an efficient P2P monitoring and crawling toolset. The
requirement for investigating P2P based systems is not limited to the more
obvious cybercrimes listed above, as many legitimate P2P based applications may
also be pertinent to a digital forensic investigation, e.g, voice over IP,
instant messaging, etc. Investigating these networks has become increasingly
difficult due to the broad range of network topologies and the ever increasing
and evolving range of P2P based applications. In this work we introduce the
Universal P2P Network Investigation Framework (UP2PNIF), a framework which
enables significantly faster and less labour intensive investigation of newly
discovered P2P networks through the exploitation of the commonalities in P2P
network functionality. In combination with a reference database of known
network characteristics, it is envisioned that any known P2P network can be
instantly investigated using the framework, which can intelligently determine
the best investigation methodology and greatly expedite the evidence gathering
process. A proof of concept tool was developed for conducting investigations on
the BitTorrent network.Comment: This is a thesis submitted in fulfilment of a PhD in Digital
Forensics and Cybercrime Investigation in the School of Computer Science,
University College Dublin in October 201
Application framework for wireless sensor networks [thesis]
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are based on innovative technologies that had revolutionized the methods in which we interact with the environment; i.e., through sensing the physical (e.g., fire motion, contact) and chemical (e.g., molecular concentration) properties of the natural surroundings. The hardware in which utilized by WSNs is rapidly evolving into sophisticated platforms that seamlessly integrate with different vendors and protocols (plug-n-play). In this thesis, we propose a WSN framework which provides assistance with monitoring environmental conditions; we focus on three main applications which include: a. Air-quality monitoring, b. Gas-leak detection, and c. Fire sensing. The framework involves four specifications: 1. Over the air programming (OTAP), 2. Network interconnections, 3. Sensors manageability, and 4. Alarm signaling. Their aim is to enhance the internetwork relations between the WSNs and the outside-world (i.e., main users, clients, or audience); by creating a medium in which devices efficiently communicate, independent of location or infrastructure (e.g., Internet), in order to exchange data among networked-objects and their users. Therefore, we propose a WSN-over-IP architecture which provides several renowned services of the Internet; the major functionalities include: live-data streaming (real-time), e-mailing, cloud storage (external servers), and network technologies (e.g., LAN or WLAN). WSNs themselves operate independently of the Internet; i.e., their operation involve unique protocols and specific hardware requirements which are incompatible with common network platforms (e.g., within home network infrastructure). Hybrid technologies are those which support multiple data-communication protocols within a single device; their main capabilities involve seamless integration and interoperability of different hardware vendors. We propose an overall architecture based on hybrid communication technology in which data is transmitted using three types of protocols: 802.11 (Wi-Fi), 802.15.4 and Digimesh (WSN)
A credit-based approach to scalable video transmission over a peer-to-peer social network
PhDThe objective of the research work presented in this thesis is to study
scalable video transmission over peer-to-peer networks. In particular,
we analyse how a credit-based approach and exploitation of social networking
features can play a significant role in the design of such systems.
Peer-to-peer systems are nowadays a valid alternative to the traditional
client-server architecture for the distribution of multimedia content, as
they transfer the workload from the service provider to the final user,
with a subsequent reduction of management costs for the former. On
the other hand, scalable video coding helps in dealing with network
heterogeneity, since the content can be tailored to the characteristics
or resources of the peers. First of all, we present a study that evaluates
subjective video quality perceived by the final user under different
transmission scenarios. We also propose a video chunk selection algorithm
that maximises received video quality under different network
conditions. Furthermore, challenges in building reliable peer-to-peer
systems for multimedia streaming include optimisation of resource allocation
and design mechanisms based on rewards and punishments that
provide incentives for users to share their own resources. Our solution
relies on a credit-based architecture, where peers do not interact with
users that have proven to be malicious in the past. Finally, if peers
are allowed to build a social network of trusted users, they can share
the local information they have about the network and have a more
complete understanding of the type of users they are interacting with.
Therefore, in addition to a local credit, a social credit or social reputation
is introduced. This thesis concludes with an overview of future
developments of this research work
On Critical Infrastructure Protection and International Agreements
This paper evaluates the prospects for protecting critical social functions from “cyber” attacks carried out over electronic information networks. In particular, it focuses on the feasibility of devising international laws, conventions or agreements to deter and/or punish perpetrators of such attacks. First,it briefly summarizes existing conventions and laws, and explains to which technological issues they can apply. The paper then turns to a technical discussion of the threats faced by critical infrastructure. By distinguishing between the different types of attacks (theft of information, destructive penetration, denial of service, etc.) that can be conducted, and examining the role of collateral damages in information security, the paper identifies the major challenges in devising and implementing international conventions for critical infrastructure protection. It then turns to a practical examination of how these findings apply to specific instances of critical networks (power grids and water systems, financial infrastructure, air traffic control and hospital networks), and draws conclusions about potential remedies. A notable finding is that critical functions should be isolated from non-critical functions in the network to have a chance to implement viable international agreements; and that, given the difficulty in performing attack attribution, other relevant laws should be designed with the objective of reducing negative externalities that facilitate such attacks
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Improving Security and Performance in Low Latency Anonymous Networks
Conventional wisdom dictates that the level of anonymity offered by low latency anonymity networks increases as the user base grows. However, the most significant obstacle to increased adoption of such systems is that their security and performance properties are perceived to be weak. In an effort to help foster adoption, this dissertation aims to better understand and improve security, anonymity, and performance in low latency anonymous communication systems.
To better understand the security and performance properties of a popular low latency anonymity network, we characterize Tor, focusing on its application protocol distribution, geopolitical client and router distributions, and performance. For instance, we observe that peer-to-peer file sharing protocols use an unfair portion of the network’s scarce bandwidth. To reduce the congestion produced by bulk downloaders in networks such as Tor, we design, implement, and analyze an anonymizing network tailored specifically for the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing protocol. We next analyze Tor’s security and anonymity properties and empirically show that Tor is vulnerable to practical end-to-end traffic correlation attacks launched by relatively weak adversaries that inflate their bandwidth claims to attract traffic and thereby compromise key positions on clients’ paths. We also explore the security and performance trade-offs that revolve around path length design decisions and we show that shorter paths offer performance benefits and provide increased resilience to certain attacks. Finally, we discover a source of performance degradation in Tor that results from poor congestion and flow control. To improve Tor’s performance and grow its user base, we offer a fresh approach to congestion and flow control inspired by techniques from IP and ATM networks
Block-by-Block: Leveraging the Power of Blockchain Technology to Build Trust and Promote Cyber Peace
There has been increasing interest in the transformative power of not only crypto-currencies like Bitcoin, but also the technology underlying them-namely blockchain. To the uninitiated, a blockchain is a sophisticated, distributed online ledger that has the potential, according to Goldman Sachs, to change \u27everything. \u27 From making businesses more efficient to recording property deeds to engendering the growth of \u27smart\u27 contracts, blockchain technology is now being investigated by a huge range of organizations and is attracting billions in venture funding. Even the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is investigating blockchain technology to create an unhackable messaging system
Controlling P2P File-Sharing Networks Traffic
Since the appearance of Peer-To-Peer (P2P) file-sharing networks some time ago, many
Internet users have chosen this technology to share and search programs, videos, music,
documents, etc. The total number of P2P file-sharing users has been increasing and
decreasing in the last decade depending on the creation or end of some well known P2P
file-sharing systems. P2P file-sharing networks traffic is currently overloading some data
networks and it is a major headache for network administrators because it is difficult to
control this kind of traffic (mainly because some P2P file-sharing networks encrypt their
messages). This paper deals with the analysis, taxonomy and characterization of eight Public
P2P file-sharing networks: Gnutella, Freeenet, Soulseek, BitTorrent, Opennap, eDonkey,
MP2P and FastTrack. These eight most popular networks have been selected due to their
different type of working architecture. Then, we will show the amount of users, files and the
size of files inside these file-sharing networks. Finally, several network configurations are
presented in order to control P2P file-sharing traffic in the network.García Pineda, M.; Hammoumi, M.; Canovas Solbes, A.; Lloret, J. (2011). Controlling P2P File-Sharing Networks Traffic. Network Protocols and Algorithms. 3(4):54-92. doi:10.5296/npa.v3i4.1365S54923
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