1 Alternative Approaches: Technical Issues and IPR Brian Kelly UK Web Focus UKOLN University of Bath Bath, BA2 7AY UKOLN is funded by the British Library Research and Innovation Centre, the Joint Information Systems Committee of the Higher Education Funding Councils, as well as by project funding from the JISC’s Electronic Libraries Programme and the European Union. UKOLN also receives support from the University of Bath where it is based. Contents IPR Issues - Today and Tomorrow Solutions:  Applications  Protocols  IPR Metadata What Next? Contents IPR Issues - Today and Tomorrow Solutions:  Applications  Protocols  IPR Metadata What Next?

2 Caching Server Caches A web page states that the resource is copyright and it cannot be downloaded for a period greater than 30 days. A user downloads the page. The user’s browser has been configured by the Computing Service to use an organisational and national (JISC-funded) cache Is this a problem? If so, whose? Client Caches and Off-Line Browsers Off-line browsers, such as WebWacker, used to download resources to allow user to work off-line

3 Look and Feel Many companies (and increasingly universities) value their visual identity. But use of graphics: Slows down access Makes indexing difficult Makes authoring difficult Inaccessible to visually impaired: Speaking browsers don't work Can't change font size, colour, background, etc.

4 Style Sheets Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): Provide rich control over display Text resources which are network friendly, can be indexed, etc. User control over display Good for accessibility Important component of Web architecture But what are the copyright implications?

5 Changing Context Technologies such as Frames can change the context of resources on the web by: Pointing to text Pointing to graphics There has reportedly been a "Babes on the Web" page. Document held remotely One JISC service has reported its content has been misappropriated in this way

6 "Chunking" Lessons learnt from teaching and learning software projects include importance of: Developing libraries of small resources which can be reused in a variety of ways Separating content from presentation and admin But: Reuse also implies "stealing" is made easier Separation of intellectual content from rights statements may cause problems

7 Examples Examples of possible IPR infringement are shown TotalNews advertising Somebody else's content Content added to document

8 Linking You should not need permission by link to a resource: Tim Berners-Lee's view Sensible from management perspective: –Far too many requests would be generated –Not clear who can make decision (the "Webmaster?") But: What is a resource (remember "chunking")? Linking to a "chunk" may lose ownership, AUP information Shetland Times (and other) disputes See

9 Linking Although linking issues may appear simple (anyone can add a tag to a document), complications due to: Frames Linking to a "chunk" out of context Other types of linking: is a form of link, which is probably not allowed outside Edinburgh Imperial College attempted to introduce no-linking from personal pages policy in 1995, but this was abandoned following user pressure

10 Next Generation of Linking IPR issues get more complicated as technology develops: XLink Richer hyperlinking functionality: –Link destination loaded inline –Link destination loaded in new window –Link resolved on user action –Link resolved on document load XPointer Can link and process arbitrary portion of XML document (second heading through to third sentence after fourth image)

11 Link Collections and IPR What can I do with a collection of links on the web? Follow them Add them to my personal bookmarks Give the addresses in a reading list for my students Provide this reading list on the web Is this stealing from the search engine / gateways service? At what point does stealing occur?

12 Rights and the DNER JISC / eLib are beginning to address rights issues for access to licensed resources: Collection Level Description draft report released recently Need to define access restrictions in machine- readable format See Example Search across datasets for which I (or my University) have the rights to access Example Search across datasets for which I (or my University) have the rights to access Rights Access restricted to participating institutions Access restricted to UK staff / students Access restricted during peak hours Rights Access restricted to participating institutions Access restricted to UK staff / students Access restricted during peak hours

13 Application-Based Solutions Applications software can help address IPR problems: Use of Adobe Acrobat / PDF (cf. eLib projects) ECMS software (e.g. Imprimatur at ) Java solutions (graphic displayed by Java application, not natively by browser) But: Application dependent Cost Future uncertainty (e.g. Microsoft buy Adobe)

14 Political Developments Global Information Networks European Conference in Bonn in June 97 Raised issues concerning Copyright, Data Protection, etc. Highlighted need for technical, protocol and political solutions See World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Response DSig: a web of trustP3P: privacy project IPR: intellectual property rights See

15 We Need Metadata! Metadata is the missing architectural component from the initial implementation of the web Metadata / RDF PICS, IPR, MCF, DSig, DC,... Addressing URL Data format HTML Transport HTTP The W3C is developing a machine-understandable metadata framework which can automate a variety of tasks (resource discovery, content filtering, etc.) IPR issues could be addressed in the same way. The W3C is developing a machine-understandable metadata framework which can automate a variety of tasks (resource discovery, content filtering, etc.) IPR issues could be addressed in the same way.

16 IPR W3C's IPR activity: Intellectual Property Rights and the Web: –Does use of a cache infringe copyright –Can links to resources be made freely –… Asks the contentious question: Does the nature of the technology require us to change the legal understanding or status of copyright as it stands now? See

17 P3P - Platform for Privacy Preferences P3P provides a spec and demos of ways of expressing privacy practices & preferences by Web sites and users Grammatical Model Grammar and vocabulary for machine-readable statements: Data Categories: e.g. name, ,... Practices: Use: e.g. system admin, research, customisation Transfer: divulge information within organisation Release: divulge info to other organisation Access: ability of data subject to view information See

18 DSig DSig: W3C's Digital Signature Initiative Helps users to decide who to trust Based on digitally signed assertions: "This web page comes from Bath University Courses office and gives a legally binding list of courses" See

19 Authentication Authentication: Important for many applications Currently provided by Athens Open Authentication Systems based on public key technologies and certification agencies (CAs) likely to be important in the future Political push from EU, Tony Blair, etc. UK HE from JISC: –Funding for Digital Signatures and Certificate Based Infrastructure Services report and pilot –See

20 Dublin Core Dublin Core (DC): Set of 15 core elements to facilitate resource discovery Includes a Rights element Not being used - regarded as a place-holder for an important but difficult area Critique Godfrey Rust argues that DC is seriously flawed and an integrated descriptive and rights management metadata are needed See

21 What's Happening in UK? Number of universities have provided guidelines governing Internet use: Data Protection Computer Misuse.. But: Is work being duplicated? Is it still relevant? CS/DPA.html

22 What's Needed? Catalogue of Guidelines A catalogue of UK HE web resources is planned: Uses ROADS (cf. SOSIG, OMNI, etc.) Various categories planned: –AUP –Guidelines for authors –Local search engines Feedback welcome Scottish Universities may have valuable role to play in setting up database of resources

23 What's Needed? Rights Metadata Desirable to: Rigourously define IPR statements in machine-readable way (cf P3P) Follow international guidelines Link rights metadata with collections of resources But: How long with this take? Will it be suitable for our applications?

24 Conclusions Widespread use of the Internet / ease of publishing has increased IPR concerns Need to be aware of global technical developments (esp. in W3C) Need to be aware of global political developments (EU, Fifth Framework, UK) Need to share experiences Need to be aware of (implement?) technical solutions