1,765 research outputs found
The Role of Cryptography in Security for Electronic Commerce
Many businesses and consumers are wary of conducting business over the Internet due to a perceived lack of security. Electronic business is subject to a variety of threats such as unauthorised access, misappropriation, alteration and destruction of both data and systems. This paper explores the major security concerns of businesses and users and describes the cryptographic techniques used to reduce such risks
Regulating the technological actor: how governments tried to transform the technology and the market for cryptography and cryptographic services and the implications for the regulation of information and communications technologies
The formulation, adoption, and transformation of policy
involves the interaction of actors as they negotiate, accept, and
reject proposals. Traditional studies of policy discourse focus
on social actors. By studying cryptography policy discourses, I
argue that considering both social and technological actors in
detail enriches our understanding of policy discourse.
The case-based research looks at the various cryptography
policy strategies employed by the governments of the United
States of America and the United Kingdom. The research
method is qualitative, using hermeneutics to elucidate the
various actorsâ interpretations. The research aims to
understand policy discourse as a contest of principles involving
various government actors advocating multiple regulatory
mechanisms to maintain their surveillance capabilities, and the
reactions of industry actors, non-governmental organisations,
parliamentarians, and epistemic communities.
I argue that studying socio-technological discourse helps us to
understand the complex dynamics involved in regulation and
regulatory change. Interests and alignments may be contingent
and unstable. As a result, technologies can not be regarded as
mere representations of social interests and relationships.
By capturing the interpretations and articulations of social and
technological actors we may attain a better understanding of
the regulatory landscape for information and communications
technologies
Music in electronic markets: an empirical study
Music plays an important, and sometimes overlooked part in the transformation of communication and distribution channels. With a global market volume exceeding US$40 billion, music is not only one of the primary entertainment goods in its own right. Since music is easily personalized and transmitted, it also permeates many other services across cultural borders, anticipating social and economic trends. This article presents one of the first detailed empirical studies on the impact of internet technologies on a specific industry. Drawing on more than 100 interviews conducted between 1996 and 2000 with multinational and independent music companies in 10 markets, strategies of the major players, current business models, future scenarios and regulatory responses to the online distribution of music files are identified and evaluated. The data suggest that changes in the music industry will indeed be far-reaching, but disintermediation is not the likely outcome
The State of the Electronic Identity Market: Technologies, Infrastructure, Services and Policies
Authenticating onto systems, connecting to mobile networks and providing identity data to access services is common ground for most EU citizens, however what is disruptive is that digital technologies fundamentally alter and upset the ways identity is managed, by people, companies and governments. Technological progress in cryptography, identity systems design, smart card design and mobile phone authentication have been developed as a convenient and reliable answer to the need for authentication. Yet, these advances ar enot sufficient to satisfy the needs across people's many spheres of activity: work, leisure, health, social activities nor have they been used to enable cross-border service implementation in the Single Digital Market, or to ensure trust in cross border eCommerce. The study findings assert that the potentially great added value of eID technologies in enabling the Digital Economy has not yet been fulfilled, and fresh efforts are needed to build identification and authentication systems that people can live with, trust and use. The study finds that usability, minimum disclosure and portability, essential features of future systems, are at the margin of the market and cross-country, cross-sector eID systems for business and public service are only in their infancy. This report joins up the dots, and provides significant exploratory evidence of the potential of eID for the Single Digital Market. A clear understanding of this market is crucial for policy action on identification and authentication, eSignature and interoperability.JRC.DDG.J.4-Information Societ
The legality of online Privacy-Enhancing Technologies
Lâutilisation dâInternet prend beaucoup dâampleur depuis quelques annĂ©es et le commerce Ă©lectronique connaĂźt une hausse considĂ©rable. Nous pouvons prĂ©sentement acheter facilement via Internet sans quitter notre domicile et avons accĂšs Ă dâinnombrables sources dâinformation. Cependant, la navigation sur Internet permet Ă©galement la crĂ©ation de bases de donnĂ©es dĂ©taillĂ©es dĂ©crivant les habitudes de chaque utilisateur, informations ensuite utilisĂ©es par des tiers afin de cerner le profil de leur clientĂšle cible, ce qui inquiĂšte plusieurs intervenants. Les informations concernant un individu peuvent ĂȘtre rĂ©coltĂ©es par lâinterception de donnĂ©es transactionnelles, par lâespionnage en ligne, ainsi que par lâenregistrement dâadresses IP. Afin de rĂ©soudre les problĂšmes de vie privĂ©e et de sâassurer que les commerçants respectent la lĂ©gislation applicable en la matiĂšre, ainsi que les exigences mises de lâavant par la Commission europĂ©enne, plusieurs entreprises comme Zero-knowledge Systems Inc. et Anonymizer.com offrent des logiciels permettant la protection de la vie privĂ©e en ligne (privacy-enhancing technologies ou PETs). Ces programmes utilisent le cryptage dâinformation, une mĂ©thode rendant les donnĂ©es illisibles pour tous Ă lâexception du destinataire. Lâobjectif de la technologie utilisĂ©e a Ă©tĂ© de crĂ©er des systĂšmes mathĂ©matiques rigoureux pouvant empĂȘcher la dĂ©couverte de lâidentitĂ© de lâauteur mĂȘme par le plus dĂ©terminĂ© des pirates, diminuant ainsi les risques de vol dâinformation ou la divulgation accidentelle de donnĂ©es confidentielles. MalgrĂ© le fait que ces logiciels de protection de la vie privĂ©e permettent un plus grand respect des Directives europĂ©ennes en la matiĂšre, une analyse plus approfondie du sujet tĂ©moigne du fait que ces technologies pourraient ĂȘtre contraires aux lois concernant le cryptage en droit canadien, amĂ©ricain et français.The use of the Internet has spread widely in the past few years and commerce on the World Wide Web has boomed. We are now able to buy products easily from home over the Internet and have access to all kinds of information sources. The well-known concern is that browsing the Internet has created detailed databases describing each user's browsing patterns and that third parties are now able to assemble comprehensive profiles about online users. Information about the user is gathered through the collection of transactional data, Internet tracking, and tracking IP addresses. In order to solve privacy problems and make sure companies are obligated to comply with privacy laws, or more specifically with the standards established by the European Commission, many companies, like Zero-knowledge Systems Inc. and Anonymizer.com, are marketing privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) in order to protect and assure the privacy of the individual in the digital world. These privacy-enhancing technologies use a method called encryption, which scrambles the data, making it illegible to everyone except the intended recipient. The goal has been to create mathematically rigorous systems that will prevent even the most determined attackers from discovering the user's identity, therefore significantly reducing the risk of data theft or accidental leaks of sensitive information from the Internet userâs computer. While these online privacy software do help to protect the privacy of the Internet users in making sure that data collectors comply with the European Privacy Directives, a further analysis may determine that they are illegal according to Canadian, American or French encryption control laws and regulations
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