Abstract

Chairman: Dr. Joseph N. Wilson
Major Department: Department of Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering

Modern legal protection of intellectual property attempts to balance the protection of the public with the protection of the author. To promote the "progress of science and useful arts" (Legislative 1), as the U.S. Constitution states, copyright law aims to offer rewards to individual efforts for the benefit of the greater good. In recent years, however, the government has increased the protection accorded to developers, de-emphasizing the benefits to the public. In the electronic context, as well, despite the simplicity and efficiency of possible contributions, the difficulties of enforcing copyright may stifle individual initiative to promote the sciences and useful arts.

What some consider an excellent collaborative environment, the World Wide Web offers developers the means to provide information quickly and simply. Given the current state of the Web, however, developers may be hesitant to place their works in such a chaotic environment. To provide order to the intellectual property chaos of the World Wide Web, this research examines the use of various web protocols and their augmentation to allow for the means of protecting data. In providing individuals with the means to protect work in the electronic environment of the World Wide Web, any research determined to preserve individual rights can have the added bonus of promoting collaborative efforts.