On Integration of Digital Rights Management Processes Predicting Content Publishing

The methods and technologies providing advantages in controlling and managing intellectual property rights are currently associated under the term Digital Rights Management (DRM). Our study revealed that the issues related to the DRM processes and components of DRM systems have been neglected from the perspective of the upstream of a value chain and the creator-side of a value network. This results in lack of mature solutions for the management of copyrights together with creation of content. Identifying and dividing the processes and components into categories according to the organizational and information system boundaries facilitate the discussion on the relations between processes. The present contribution therefore illustrates relevant components of content management and digital rights management systems for the upstream processes, introduces the processes that components are required to execute, and examines currently neglected integration issues in terms of relations between the components. As a result, we provide a conceptualization of integration needs, and from cases within industrial environment and university community we are able to draw the applicable relations between identified components

Business models to support content commons

The application of conventional, 'scarce resource' economics to content has been mistaken and harmful. More appropriate forms of economic analysis highlight the critical role that accessibility to information plays in the process of innovation. Meanwhile, down at the micro-economic level, there is an all-too-common perception that open content approaches are unsustainable and bad for business, and reflect naïve idealism on the part of their proponents. This paper identifies a range of suitable business models, and thereby demonstrates that the content commons is sustainable and appropriate for profit-oriented business enterprises

From print to Web: issues in re-purposing for an Open Resources Repository

The Open Educational Resources (OER) movement has gained rapid support for its goals of universal access to education. The UK Open University's contribution is OpenLearn, a project funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation which, over the next two years, aims to re-purpose several thousand study-hours of existing learning materials for online delivery. The UK Open University has gained a hard-won reputation for the quality of its learning materials and integrated Supported Open Learning model. However, these materials are, as a rule, developed within the framework of long courses that typically require between 300 and 600 hours of study. Furthermore, many of the courses are 'interdisciplinary' in that they are developed by teams that include members associated with different faculties. The courses are, therefore, generally structured in terms of themes that run throughout the course and may span a variety of academic disciplines. Also, despite the breadth of knowledge brought into play when a course is developed, the courses normally reflect pedagogical and disciplinary assumptions and views that are prevalent in the UK. Based on the authors' experience of the OpenLearn project, this paper explores some of the key issues encountered when re-purposing resources. These issues include how to provide material not supported by tutorial guidance, the suitability of media components for conversion and the inter-relationship between the multimedia components. The paper will also briefly discuss the requirements for evaluation of the re-purposing process. The issues raised are potentially of relevance to other re-purposing initiatives

Digital technology and governance in transition: The case of the British Library

Comment on the organizational consequences of the new information and communications technologies (ICTs) is pervaded by a powerful imagery of disaggregation and a tendency for ?virtual? forms of production to be seen as synonymous with the ?end? of bureaucracy. This paper questions the underlying assumptions of the ?virtual organization?, highlighting the historically enduring, diversified character of the bureaucratic form. The paper then presents case study findings on the web-based access to information resources now being provided by the British Library (BL). The case study evidence produces two main findings. First, radically decentralised virtual forms of service delivery are heavily dependent on new forms of capacity-building and information aggregation. Second, digital technology is embedded in an inherently contested and contradictory context of institutional change. Current developments in the management and control of digital rights are consistent with the commodification of the public sphere. However, the evidence also suggests that scholarly access to information resources is being significantly influenced by the ?information society? objectives of the BL and other institutional players within the network of UK research libraries

ICOPER Project - Deliverable 4.3 ISURE: Recommendations for extending effective reuse, embodied in the ICOPER CD&R

The purpose of this document is to capture the ideas and recommendations, within and beyond the ICOPER community, concerning the reuse of learning content, including appropriate methodologies as well as established strategies for remixing and repurposing reusable resources. The overall remit of this work focuses on describing the key issues that are related to extending effective reuse embodied in such materials. The objective of this investigation, is to support the reuse of learning content whilst considering how it could be originally created and then adapted with that ‘reuse’ in mind. In these circumstances a survey on effective reuse best practices can often provide an insight into the main challenges and benefits involved in the process of creating, remixing and repurposing what we are now designating as Reusable Learning Content (RLC). Several key issues are analysed in this report: Recommendations for extending effective reuse, building upon those described in the previous related deliverables 4.1 Content Development Methodologies and 4.2 Quality Control and Web 2.0 technologies. The findings of this current survey, however, provide further recommendations and strategies for using and developing this reusable learning content. In the spirit of ‘reuse’, this work also aims to serve as a foundation for the many different stakeholders and users within, and beyond, the ICOPER community who are interested in reusing learning resources. This report analyses a variety of information. Evidence has been gathered from a qualitative survey that has focused on the technical and pedagogical recommendations suggested by a Special Interest Group (SIG) on the most innovative practices with respect to new media content authors (for content authoring or modification) and course designers (for unit creation). This extended community includes a wider collection of OER specialists. This collected evidence, in the form of video and audio interviews, has also been represented as multimedia assets potentially helpful for learning and useful as learning content in the New Media Space (See section 4 for further details). Section 2 of this report introduces the concept of reusable learning content and reusability. Section 3 discusses an application created by the ICOPER community to enhance the opportunities for developing reusable content. Section 4 of this report provides an overview of the methodology used for the qualitative survey. Section 5 presents a summary of thematic findings. Section 6 highlights a list of recommendations for effective reuse of educational content, which were derived from thematic analysis described in Appendix A. Finally, section 7 summarises the key outcomes of this work

COMPARATIVE LAW AND THE PROCESS OF DE-JURIDIFICATION: THE JOINT-EMPLOYMENT LAW CASE IN LABOUR LAW

The process of de-juridification is, in some respects, ambiguous and paradoxical. While in certain areas, we see a proliferation of detailed legislative regulations, in others, we detect tendencies pointing in the opposite direction. One of the most interesting cases is that of labor law, where both tendencies emerge. Recent reforms in many European countries show a trend towards a relaxation of rules, inspired by the aim to stimulate growth in employment. In this context, the newly-introduced concept of \u201cjoint employment\u201d plays a pivotal role. The process of de-juridification clearly invests labor law, in particular within enterprise networks, where arrangements under joint employment seem to give the parties of a commercial contract the highest standard of contractual freedom. This social phenomenon is not therefore regulated by detailed legislative provisions, but simply through non-specific norms inspired by general goals. In considering several recent reforms of labor law in European countries, in this paper, we aim to determine the real level of de-juridification currently present within traditionally rigid legislative system

Sorting Through and Sorting Out: The State of Content Sharing in the E-Learning

On 22-24 September 2002, a group of 22 education and information technology specialists gathered on the campus of the University of California at Irvine (UCI), for a symposium on the state of educational "content sharing." (See participant list.) The meeting was sponsored by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Education Program and the UCI Distance Learning Center. This paper summarizes the themes that emerged from that gathering. Most papers can be characterized as collaborative, but this one is particularly deserving of that adjective. The presentation here is an attempt to synthesize the ideas of all the participants, expressed in numerous conversational and written exchanges pre-, during and post-meeting. While every effort has been made to present the range of views, surely not all participants would agree with the emphases and interpretations herein.This report includes a hyper-linked bibliography and footnotes for additional web-based material on e-learning topics. Links are provided for the reader's convenience only, and represent neither an endorsement nor a guarantee of the accuracy of the content of the associated sites. Comments and questions about this document are welcomed, however, and should be directed to the author or the meeting sponsors

Copyright and brands in the digital age: Internalizing the externalities of meaning

The adoption of binary code as the universal standard for globalized communications generates highly positive externalities often referred to as network effects. But what about meaning? What are the externalities associated with the formatting and circulation of meaning, and are they, too,all positive? Within the digital paradigm, is it really possible to separate the notion of expression -- covered by copyright -- from the meanings it creates? Isn't meaning heavily dependent on the concept of brand? And if so, how do copyright and trademark institutions work together to stimulate and promote meaningful information? To answer these questions, we will look at how the meaningful forms of expression -- the works -- that have historically been covered by copyright generate specific types of externality, both positive and negative, giving rise to both incentive and censorship mechanisms. We will then show how the institutions of copyright and author's rights that allow the appropriation of a meaningful good also confer a brand on it, identifying its sources. This leads to mixed externalities from both directions, with the result that copyright and trademark institutions cannot be fully separated from each other.copyright; brand; Intellectual property; trademark law; media economics