User Rights Research Articles

Управління діяльністю фахівців з кібербезпеки в умовах повномасштабного вторгнення

In this study dedicated to the management of cybersecurity professionals in the context of full-scale intrusion, significant aspects of this pressing issue have been examined. Drawing from an analysis of the content of cybersecurity professionals' activities and their core concepts, it has been identified that this field encompasses various facets requiring diverse skills and knowledge from these experts. Specifically, cybersecurity experts must possess technical expertise, understand threats and risks, detect and thwart cyberattacks, and adhere to ethical and legal standards. Addi-tionally, the ability to communicate and collaborate within a team, while considering socio-cultural and legal peculiarities of the country they operate in, is vital. In the context of full-scale intrusion, such as russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, cybersecurity professionals face challenges of extraor-dinary complexity. They must respond to aggressive cyberattacks targeting various sectors, includ-ing governmental structures, critical infrastructure, media, and the information space. Simultane-ously, they must consider ethical aspects and responsibly engage with other entities and organiza-tions to ensure collective cyber defense. This research underscores the importance of adopting a comprehensive approach to manag-ing cybersecurity professionals in times of intrusion. To achieve this, it is essential to provide train-ing and continuous skill enhancement, establish effective mechanisms for detecting and responding to cyber aggression, and strengthen international cooperation in the field of cybersecurity. Through these measures, cybersecurity professionals will have the capability to effectively safeguard the in-terests of their organizations and nations amidst heightened cyber threats, ensuring the security, privacy, and rights of users. Such an approach contributes to creating a more resilient and secure in-formation environment, a critical factor in the modern world. Furthermore, the article presents a comparative analysis of soft skills and transferable skills for cybersecurity professionals, highlighting key abilities and qualities crucial in this field. This analysis helps develop more effective strategies for training and developing cybersecurity experts, enhancing their professional competence to meet contemporary security demands. This analysis also promotes the improvement of managing cybersecurity professionals in the context of large-scale in-trusion, emphasizing the importance of combining technical and interpersonal skills to ensure the reliability and effectiveness of cybersecurity.

Una disputa por agua de riego en el Šarq al-Andalus: las alquerías de Ṭurruš y Qarṣ (Sagunto), 619 H/1222

Water from the Palancia River has been used to irrigate crops since the Middle Ages through a great canal known as the Séquia Major de Sagunt. This channel is mentioned in the only Valencian document prior to Christian conquest in the thirteenth century: a friendly agreement between the villages of Ṭurruš and Qarṣ, inscribed in Islamic law, which aimed to resolve the ongoing dispute between them regarding how water how water should be distributed. The document initiated a field study based on hydraulic archaeology that made it possible to locate Qarṣ huerta farmlands and the structures that made up the system, revealing how the water distribution and the application of usage rights by the communities worked. From the study we concluded that the Qarṣ village did not build the channel but was added to its irrigation system later. As a result, it only had rights to surplus water.

Libraries and National Security: A Review of the Evidence and a Proposed New Strategic Direction

The article aims to identify and discuss the various roles that libraries hold with regard to national security and to use the findings to propose a more clearly delineated future role for the global and national communities which reconciles these diverse and sometimes conflicting roles. The review of literature revealed that the roles of libraries with regard to national security fall mainly into two categories. That which has received most attention, mainly in the U.S. context, involves co-operation with the provisions of national security legislation which relate to libraries and their users and, relatedly, advocating for limits on these policies to protect the rights of citizens. The other main category comprises ways in which libraries have been shown to actively strengthen national security, such as ensuring equality of access to information and the digital literacy education necessary to understand it, providing safe community spaces where democratic values can be developed and shared, and disseminating information about national security threats to governments and citizens alike. The article is expected to be of considerable value in demonstrating how libraries can work together internationally and with national governments to help promote national security while ensuring that the rights of library users are also protected
 Keywords: Public Libraries, National Security, Information Specialists, IFLA, Information Dissemination, Legislations, Advocacy Role.

Evaluating the potential impact of National Health Insurance on medical scheme members' rights to have access to health-care services in South Africa

The National Health Insurance Bill proposes to establish a national health insurance scheme that aims to provide universal access to health-care services for everyone. Section 33 of the Bill also proposes to limit the provision of parallel services by medical schemes if such services are provided or covered by the tabled NHI scheme. The establishment of the NHI scheme is likely to have a negative effect on the existing access rights of general private health-care users, particularly members of medical schemes. The NHI scheme may enhance access to and the quality of health-care services for millions; however, enabling large portions of the population to access services currently provided by costly private practitioners - services at present almost exclusive to a minority - is not without its perils. It risks negatively impacting on existing access rights and reducing the quality currently enjoyed by users of private health-care services. The propriety of these potential infringements is not necessarily suspect, and may in fact be justifiable. However, this contribution argues that the limitation proposed under section 33 of the NHI Bill is cause for concern. The contribution explores the state's constitutional duty to observe and respect the right of members of medical schemes to access health-care services. It uncovers the constitutional shortcomings of the limitation, and argues that it does not appear to serve any particular legitimate economic or legal purpose.

Marijuana: Forensics of Abuse, Medical Uses, Controversy, and AI

Motor vehicle accidents are a significant consequence of marijuana abuse. Limitations of its roadside detection and the forensic problems with establishing impairment require innovations that are scientifically achievable. Marijuana abuse currently is at an all-time high in the United States and its physiological effects make it a popular recreational drug that is reported to be a leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality among the youth in the 18 most affluent nations. The medical benefits of drugs derived from marijuana complicate its forensic regulation. In an extensive 2017 report by The American Academy of Sciences, the evidence for the medical benefits of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (derived from marijuana) were stated to be conclusive or substantial for the treatment of chronic pain in adults, as an antiemetic for treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and for improving patient-reported multiple sclerosis spasticity symptoms. The benefits from treatment for many other medical conditions were inconclusive or absent. The evidence is clear that safely driving a motor vehicle is significantly impaired while under the influence of marijuana. However, there is no roadside forensic test that reliably detects impairment, and there is an urgent need for such to protect the public while insuring the legal rights of users. There is strong societal pressure to relax marijuana’s forensic regulation, including removing it from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Artificial intelligence (AI) should be implemented with appropriate human control to resolve controversies.

Making the private public: Regulating content moderation under Chinese law

With the expansion of digital economy, tackling illegal online content is an increasingly challenging task. China implemented a dual-track legal mechanism on content moderation, whereby it exempts general monitoring obligations of intermediaries under private law while imposing monitoring obligations under public law. In recent years, major platforms exercise much stronger control over flow of information, regardless of more serious consequences that impact the fundamental rights of users. Meanwhile, a series of Chinese court rulings have shown that these divergent attitudes towards monitoring obligations under public and private law have given rise to legal conflicts that may deprive intermediaries of their legitimate immunity, undermining the stability and efficiency of the safe harbor rule. Furthermore, the lack of adequate legal safeguards against the risk of abusing automatic content filtering technology might transform the internet into a digital panopticon. To redraw boundaries between monitoring obligations under private and public law, future Chinese legislation should not only provide clearer clarification on the scope of monitoring, but also include a provision prohibiting general monitoring obligations in private law. To provide legal predictability for affected parties and flexibility for future technological developments, a Good Samaritan clause should be introduced in Cybersecurity Law by learning from the substance of Article 7 of the DSA.

Drawing on the project initiators’ perspectives to evaluate TURF implementation in the Kepulauan Seribu Marine National Park: an online Q methodology study

Territorial User Rights for Fisheries (TURF) are established to grant privileged rights exclusively to local fishing communities to manage their stock within a bounded fishing ground. Theoretically, they will improve their sense of ownership which will eventually lead to stewardship and responsibility. In Indonesia, contemporary TURF has been introduced to meet such social outcomes and address the overfishing problems caused by open-access systems. The primary objective of this study was to determine how different project initiators perceive the system’s performance of TURF in Kepulauan Seribu Marine National Park. This study used an online Q methodology to determine what key actors thought of similarities and differences in TURF implementation by developing a concourse based on the original TURF project success elements. The results show that there are two different perspectives on what the essential aspects of TURF succeed in Kepulauan Seribu. The first opinion group appreciated the technical design of TURF, particularly the exclusion mechanism and boundary, which are crucial. A second opinion group argues that the clarity of rights, roles, and responsibilities is fundamental. Both opinion groups agreed that consistent law enforcement is the key to a successful TURF implementation. This study evaluated key stakeholders’ perspectives on co-management programs to identify points of consensus and disagreement that could ultimately help ensure the long-term success of TURF and similar co-management programs.

Examining the Accuracy of Using a Single Short-Term Historical Flow Period to Assess the Nile’s Downstream Water Deficit from GERD Filling: A Technical Note

Increasing water and energy demands, hydroclimatic fluctuations, damming, and usage rights disputes present major challenges in managing transboundary rivers worldwide. Of particular interest is the Eastern Nile River Basin (ENRB), which is subject to broad debate over which modeling approach should be applied to resolve the disparities in transboundary water management among the river’s riparian nations, under increased upstream damming. Several studies have simulated the downstream High Aswan Dam (HAD) storage change during the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) filling under different hydrological conditions. However, their findings diverge regarding the impacts of GERD filling on HAD storage, especially when considering a specific, naturalized, historical 10-year period to represent the average flow condition used, as a benchmark for assessing potential downstream impacts. Our extended analysis of the Nile flow historical records demonstrates that considering a single historical 10-year period to simulate the downstream water budget, as performed in Wheeler et al. (Nat Commun 11:5222, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19089-x), widely communicated to policymakers as a robust proof that GERD filling will not generate a deficit at HAD under average flow conditions, is inconclusive as it strongly depend on the selection of the historical inflow period, due to the river high interannual flow variability. Our simulation results of 20 average/near average historical flow periods in Wheeler et al. (Nat Commun 11:5222, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19089-x)’s datasheet indicates that 60% of them generates a downstream water deficit ranging from 0.5 to 14.5 BCM under the same modeling conditions and filling policy. Therefore, considering the simulation results of multiple flow sequences is crucial for accurately reflecting the impact of the Nile’s high interannual flow variability on downstream water deficit assessments, thereby settling the disparities in transboundary water management forecasts for the impacts of GERD filling and operation.

Spatial Analysis of Land Ownership on Spatial Patterns (Coastal Borders) from 2012-2032 in Aceh Besar Regency

This study aims to analyze land ownership in 2022, mainly in the area of Mesjid Raya District of Aceh Besar Regency. This study used a descriptive survey method. This study's results indicate that nine out of 4,208 Land Ownership Rights in the Mesjid Raya District (0.225%) have buildings on them. Therefore, the issuance of Land Ownership Certificates in Coastal Border Areas violates laws according to Government Regulation No. 16 of 2004 and Circular Letter No.4 SE-100.PG.01.01/II/2022 regarding Land Use Policy in Protected Areas. The nine types of Land Ownership Rights issued in the Coastal Border Areas are divided into four certificates of Ownership Rights and five certificates of Usage Rights, and they are located in several villages, such as two certificates in Neuheun, two certificates in Ladong, two certificates in Ruyung, one certificate in Meunasah Keudee and one certificate in Lamreh. The total area of the Ownership Rights Certificates issued in the Coastal Border Areas is 21,206 m2, and the total area of the Usage Rights Certificates is 145,302 m2.

Study of Citizenship Rights of the Disabled in the Field of the Urban Environment and in the Light of Afghanistan's Urban Planning Law

In light of Afghan environmental legislation and policy, the goal of this study is to analyze the citizenship rights of individuals with disabilities in the urban environment. It examines the issues faced by the disabled, particularly the physically challenged, who live in Afghanistan's cities in order to achieve this goal. The government's existing laws and regulations also include preparing for these issues. A descriptive-analytical approach has been adopted in the investigation. In this regard, the researcher has utilized the library study method to explain the concepts and give a theoretical framework to assess the course of domestic legislation after evaluating the development of domestic and international laws. This article comes to the conclusion that the physical and administrative requirements of disabled people cannot be met in Afghan cities. Think about the sidewalks. In reality, a wheelchair user is unable to use the sidewalks. Wheelchair users' rights have been violated as a result of the obstacles that the town has put in place to keep motorcycles off the pavements. Think about the sidewalks; in reality, a wheelchair user cannot utilize them. The right of wheelchair users has essentially been infringed due to the obstructions put in place by the municipality to prevent motorcycle riders from using the sidewalks. There are few organizations in the road and construction engineering sector, particularly in government departments, that have measured the essential facilities and measures for the disabled in their structures. The law of motion is one of the acknowledged tenets among philosophers. They hold the view that everything in the universe is in motion and that each living thing is gradually evolving to realize its potential. Therefore, all facets of society should have access to the amenities required for advancement. This rule applies to everyone, including those with disabilities, and the urban environment must be created and modified in a way that allows them to utilize all of its amenities. The road system in every city is what connects all of the metropolitan areas, and by making it accessible to people with disabilities, many of their difficulties are resolved. In cities, disabled persons are assessed. The necessary design requirements for people with disabilities are then presented.

The transition of sokshing (leaf litter forest) property rights and management: A case study of Punakha and Wangdue district, Bhutan

Prior to the government's involvement, the local communities had customary rights over the forest including access to, use of, and management of forest resources in Bhutan. However, the fate of customary rights changed with the provision of new governance. A case of sokshing (leaflitter forest) and its management under new regulations are discussed in this study. The sokshing which was de facto independent and owned by private households and communities, was nationalized under the provision of the Forest Act of 1969. Subsequently, the Land Act of 1978 permitted the use of sokshing for the collection of leaf litter and fodder, restraining the use of standing trees and land. However, with the Land Act of 2007, the user right was abolished and sokshing was completely nationalized and deregistered from lagthram (private land registration record), infringing the people's customary rights. This study examined how an individuals responded to changes in the legal ownership of sokshing and its effect on the sustainability, management, and preservation of sokshing land. To achieve this, 61 households comprising both sokshing and non-sokshing owners were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Ostrom and Schlager's bundles of rights framework were used to examine the changes in the forest property rights of local people. The results revealed that despite the enactment of the 2007 land act, the majority of respondents continued to manage and use sokshing for the production of leaf litter. However, there were concerns among local people about the ownership of their sokshing land due to poor implementation of the land act and lack of clarity on land property rights. Therefore, to address the concerns and ensure the sustainable management and utilization of sokshing land, it is recommended that the Land Act of 2007 be amended to include provisions for thorough consultation and participation, the development of a comprehensive management plan, and the promotion of equity in the use and management of sokshing resources.

Introduction of Censorship by Foreign Internet Platforms

Internet platforms have considerable power over information flows on a global scale in the conditions of mass digitalization of modern life. Currently, Internet platforms can control the ability of self-expression of billions of Internet users, including Russian ones. The concentration of the most popular platforms in the United States, where there is a vacuum of legal regulation of Internet platforms that enjoy legal protection as distributors of information along with the press and other types of media, has led to the fact that Internet platforms are actively creating a system of censorship of information, carefully masking such censorship and giving it the appearance of conscientious moderation aimed at combating extremism, false information, aggression, and other illegal phenomena. Censorship in its digital incarnation is fundamentally different from censorship that existed in the past. If earlier censorship used to be based on normative regulation and was regulated in detail, now it is hidden and it uses new technical opportunities. Being a product of the American political system, Internet platforms censorship is based on the political preferences of their leadership. Using historical and legal analysis, including analysis of the history of censorship since its appearance and transformation into the state institution, the author concludes that Internet platforms censorship represents a new phenomenon that has not been described in detail before, requiring reflection in legislation in order to ensure protection of the constitutional rights of users. Effective protection of the constitutional rights of Internet users is impossible without legislative prohibition of Internet platforms censorship and international cooperation aimed at combating this phenomenon.

How to backdoor split learning

Split learning, a distributed learning framework, has garnered significant attention from academic and industrial communities. In contrast to federated learning, split learning offers a more flexible architecture for participants with limited computing resources. However, the security of split learning has been questioned due to the separation of data and model control rights from usage rights. Currently, most research work focuses on inference attacks in split learning. In this paper, we first reveal the vulnerability of split learning to backdoor attacks and present two backdoor attack frameworks from both the server and client perspectives. Regarding the client-side attacker, we insert backdoor samples into the training data by utilizing the client’s direct control over local data, and propose two methods for labeling backdoor samples that can be adapted to various application scenarios. Due to the server’s lack of control over the client in split learning, it is infeasible for server-side attackers to inject backdoor samples into training data. Our strategy involves leveraging the server’s control over the training process to shape the optimization direction of the client model, thereby enabling it to encode backdoor samples. Moreover, we introduce an auxiliary model into the attack framework to enhance the effectiveness of the backdoor attack. The auxiliary model can increase the distinction between backdoor samples and clean samples in the feature space to improve the sensitivity of the client model to backdoor samples. Extensive evaluations demonstrate the high attack accuracy of both proposed attack frameworks without causing any compromise to the performance of the main task. Our research uncovers the potential security risks and rings the alarm for the application of split learning.

User rights in the fisheries and salmon-farming of the Faroe Islands

This paper focuses on the user rights regimes that have governed access to the marine resources of the Faroe Islands, which in the case of the fisheries are primarily fish stocks, and, in the case of salmon farming, primarily clean and healthy water masses. Examining the application of different user rights arrangements, we were able to observe a gradual improvement in the economic efficiency of the production activity for salmon farming, where strong operating exclusivity played a pivotal role in strengthening user rights. Similarly, the pelagic fisheries and the distant-waters demersal fisheries governed by ITQs have witnessed improved economic efficiency, although the strength of their user rights weakened over the last decade because of diminishing exclusivity and security of their rights. At the same time, the coastal demersal fisheries governed by ITEs continued to be marked by overcapacity and low fish stock levels despite the presence of strong exclusivity. These findings indicate that the design of user rights must also relate to specific management differences in marine resource exploitation under consideration.

The Puppet Regime, Rent-Collecting Groups, and Rent-Tax Relations in Changshu County, Jiangsu Province, during the Japanese Puppet Regime Era

Abstract The land tax was a major source of local fiscal revenue in southern Jiangsu during the Japanese puppet regime era. It involved a complex tug-of-war between the puppet “central” and local governments and was closely tied to rent affairs. At the onset of the “Rural Pacification,” the simultaneous imposition of rent and taxes by the Japanese puppet regime infringed upon various stakeholders’ interests but did not aid in increasing land tax revenue or stabilizing the economy. Instead, the regime could only profit from local surcharges via the embezzlement case in Changshu County. In the process of grabbing land taxes and constructing tax collection standards, both the puppet regime and the rent-collecting groups pursued their own interests, colluding and competing with each other. In the meantime, the puppet regime, aiming at extracting land output, disrupted the existing rent-tax management method, thereby reconstructing the urban-rural relationship in southern Jiangsu and increasing the peasants’ burden. The rent-tax issue in Changshu County during the occupation period reflects the entanglement of the three-fold relationships – “central” vs. local, “official” vs. civilian, and landlord vs. tenant – under the Japanese puppet regime. Yet, the acute landlord-tenant contradiction was ultimately replaced by social conflicts provoked by the Japanese puppet regime’s intervention in land ownership and usage rights.

Digital Cognitive Behavioral- and Mindfulness-Based Stress-Management Interventions for Survivors of Breast Cancer: Development Study.

Psychosocial stress-management interventions can reduce stress and distress and improve the quality of life for survivors of cancer. As these in-person interventions are not always offered or accessible, evidence-informed digital stress-management interventions may have the potential to improve outreach of psychosocial support for survivors of cancer. Few such digital interventions exist so far, few if any have been developed specifically for survivors of breast cancer, and few if any have attempted to explore more than 1 distinct type of intervention framework. This study aimed to develop 2 digital psychosocial stress-management interventions for survivors of breast cancer; 1 cognitive behavioral therapy-based intervention (CBI), and 1 mindfulness-based intervention (MBI). The development of the CBI and MBI interventions originated from the existing StressProffen program, a digital stress-management intervention program for survivors of cancer, based on a primarily cognitive behavioral therapeutic concept. Development processes entailed a multidisciplinary design approach and were iteratively conducted in close collaboration between key stakeholders, including experts within psychosocial oncology, cancer epidemiology, stress-management, and eHealth as well as survivors of breast cancer and health care providers. Core psychosocial oncology stress-management and cancer epidemiology experts first conducted a series of workshops to identify cognitive behavioral and mindfulness specific StressProffen content, overlapping psychoeducational content, and areas where development and incorporation of new material were needed. Following the program content adaptation and development phase, phases related to user testing of new content and technical, privacy, security, and ethical aspects and adjustments ensued. Intervention content for the distinct CBI and MBI interventions was refined in iterative user-centered design processes and adjusted to electronic format through stakeholder-centered iterations. For the CBI version, the mindfulness-based content of the original StressProffen was removed, and for the MBI version, cognitive behavioral content was removed. Varying degrees of new content were created for both versions, using a similar layout as for the original StressProffen program. New content and new exercises in particular were tested by survivors of breast cancer and a project-related editorial team, resulting in subsequent user centered adjustments, including ensuring auditory versions and adequate explanations before less intuitive sections. Other improvements included implementing a standard closing sentence to round off every exercise, and allowing participants to choose the length of some of the mindfulness exercises. A legal disclaimer and a description of data collection, user rights and study contact information were included to meet ethical, privacy, and security requirements. This study shows how theory specific (ie, CBI and MBI) digital stress-management interventions for survivors of breast cancer can be developed through extensive collaborations between key stakeholders, including scientists, health care providers, and survivors of breast cancer. Offering a variety of evidence-informed stress-management approaches may potentially increase interest for outreach and impact of psychosocial interventions for survivors of cancer. RR2-10.2196/47195.

Advantages and disadvantages of introducing strong user rights in fisheries. A literature review

User rights are an important topic in discussions of fisheries management. A user right can be defined as right to harvest from fish stocks; therefore, these rights are seen as a subset of property rights. Economists would normally argue that strong user rights (SURFs) should be implemented for fisheries, but the introduction of SURFs. affects a society in a complex way. By conducting a literature review, we have identified the advantages and disadvantages of introducing SURFs. We are mainly interested in short-run and long-run efficiency-related economic effects, but we have also identified major nonefficiency-related economic effects, social effects and environmental or biological effects. Due to the disadvantages we will also briefly discuss alternatives to SURFs

The present looks nothing like the Jetsons: Deceptive design in virtual assistants and the protection of the rights of users

The increasing popularity of virtual assistants (VAs) raises concerns about deceptive design (also referred to as dark patterns), that is, design tricks to influence users into buying or engaging more, hijacking their decision-making capability. The article argues that some recurring responses and prompts recited by VAs amount to deceptive design, matching some well-known dark patterns such as Price Comparison Prevention and Misdirection. It analyses the challenges of applying the EU consumer and personal data protection laws to deceptive design in VAs, exploring provisions on unfair practices and consumers’ rights (UCPD, CRD), fairness of personal data processing (GDPR), as well as the new rules on digital services (DSA) and the proposals for Data Act and AI Act. While the current legal framework offers a sufficient starting point to address the complexity and sophistication of deceptive design in virtual assistants, additional guidance on its application and interpretation is necessary to guarantee a high level of protection of the rights and interests of VA users. This article contributes to the ongoing debate on the regulation of deceptive design, and brings attention to the specific challenges deriving from virtual assistants due to the use of vocal interface, which can bring a paradigmatic shift from the legal perspective.

A deeper dive into the blue economy: the role of the diving sector in conservation and sustainable development goals

Attaining an equitable Blue Economy requires reconsidering historical extractive usages of natural ocean capital in favor of more sustainable activities. Scuba diving is an expanding industry, and several examples illustrate how the diving sector has assisted with transitions to sustainable economic activities. In certain countries diving tourism generates revenues comparable with fishing industries, yet the sector remains underrepresented within marine conservation efforts. Therefore, we present five actions tailored to enhance the diving sector’s participation in the Blue Economy: i) Organize the fragmented sector via international associations and federations; ii) Recognize usage rights for natural capital equal to extractive activities; iii) Modernize the sector using technology to improve connectivity and data sharing; iv) Invest in the sector by engaging private and public funding and subsidizing critical infrastructure to enable equitable access; v) Foster a sense of community by training and supporting local leaders, thereby ensuring more equitable participation by including women, indigenous people, and the youth. Diving represents one of the only endeavors that enables citizens to actively support the Blue Economy and help to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14, “Life Below Water”; therefore, the diving sector is uniquely poised to help address conservation goals and sustainable development.

FingerChain: Copyrighted Multi-Owner Media Sharing by Introducing Asymmetric Fingerprinting Into Blockchain

Nowadays, more and more people are engaged in media creation and sharing for income. A common way to earn income is to upload media to an intermediary platform and then let the platform distribute some profits. However, intermediary platforms generally not only extract most of the profits, but also lack transparency in their operation, where owners lose direct control over the media. Nevertheless, individual sharing is not feasible for owners because each owner holds too little media to attract enough users independently. Blockchain is a solution to the above problem by gathering media from multiple owners without intermediaries. Though a lot of works have studied the use of blockchain for decentralized management of media data, many of them either did not consider sharing needs or tracing the illegal redistribution by malicious users. As for other works, most of them adopted symmetric digital watermarking in their blockchain networks, and thus fail to protect the rights of users who may be framed by malicious owners. Although asymmetric watermarking has been used by two existing works, the owner-side embedding pattern results in low owner-side efficiency. In view of this, we design a media sharing blockchain network in which the asymmetric fingerprinting (i.e., watermarking) with user-side embedding is introduced. Besides superior owner-side efficiency, our scheme also outperforms the above two ones in terms of TTP-free. Moreover, our scheme is designed to offer a user-friendly experience and support record traceability. The performance of our scheme is verified by both theoretical and experimental evaluations.