[2255] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Network access to non-free information
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (jcurran@NNSC.NSF.NET)
Mon Feb 3 09:30:13 1992
To: Bob Smart <smart@mel.dit.csiro.au>
Cc: com-priv@psi.com, nnsc@NNSC.NSF.NET
In-Reply-To: Your message of Mon, 03 Feb 92 15:38:23 +1100.
Date: Mon, 03 Feb 92 09:20:55 -0500
From: jcurran@NNSC.NSF.NET
--------
From: Bob Smart <smart@mel.dit.csiro.au>
Subject: Network access to non-free information
Date: Mon, 03 Feb 92 15:38:23 +1100
...
The legislature should enact the concept of a Restricted Use Document
(RUD). A RUD is a sequence of bits (i.e. a file in computer
terminology) with a special header. The header would include some
specific wording in ASCII indicating that what follows is a RUD. It
would also include:
the length of the document;
the key needed to decode the remaining bits;
a one-way checksum of the header;
the restriction;
The restriction can restrict use of the document to a specific person
or to a specific time period or both. Restriction to a person will be
based on a long password allocated to the user which he has agreed
not to give to anyone else. Restriction to a time period specifies the
start and end time of the period in which the RUD can be used.
...
The control of copyrighted information is definitely a major hurdle in creating
the electronic marketplace. At the recent Networking and Publishing '92
conference in NY, several publishers shared the same concerns.
There cannot be adequate technical solution to the problem without the use of
systems in which all data is "tagged" which the relevant controls. Work has
been done in this field for controlled military environments but diversity
and the established base of systems pretty much rule out ubiquitous deployment.
It is possible to have an information marketplace and the ability to readily
copy data; this is roughly the same issue as exists with paper media and
photocopiers today. While the existing controls are imperfect, they provide
enough protection for publishers to recover their costs and pursue gross
violations.
The real problem with an electronic market of information via the Internet is
the lack of coordinated authorization and billing mechanisms. Before someone
can safely provide information at a cost, there must be a method of determining
who is requesting it and for easily determining billing information.
This is essentially the service being provider by the large information houses
such as Dialog and Mead (although they also offer many additional services).
If you have information to sell, you can do it today via such organizations.
/John
p.s. It is possible that such authorization and billing services may someday
be directly available via the Internet; this could be done via the
network providers, via protocol extensions, or even by simple access
controls and pre-subscription.
