Papers by Nicklas Lundblad
Privacy in a noise society
In this paper, an economic study of different levels of expected privacy, both individual and col... more In this paper, an economic study of different levels of expected privacy, both individual and collective, is used to demonstrate that we live neither in a dystopian control society nor in a utopian privacy enhanced society, but rather in a noise society characterized by high collective expectations of privacy and low individual expectations of privacy. This has profound consequences for the design of privacy law, privacy enhancing technologies and the sociology of privacy.

The New Role of Gaming: How games move outside entertainment
Entertainment Computing Technologies and Applications Ifip First International Workshop on Entertainment Computing, 2003
The potentials of using games and gaming for other purposes than just entertainment are very prom... more The potentials of using games and gaming for other purposes than just entertainment are very promising. While today initiatives mainly are focusing on the learning capabilities of games and gaming there are many other potential uses. This new use focuses on combining the advantages of gaming (motivation, stimulation and engagement) while in the same time solving different “serious” and time critical tasks. But along with promises comes economic and cultural differences between the game industry (the developers) and the traditional industries (the users). Even though many of these problems can be avoided by setting up projects differently the biggest challenge is to perhaps to fight the prejudices and preconceptions surrounding both camps.
In this article we study the phenomenon of noise files, that is: files that are low-quality or ha... more In this article we study the phenomenon of noise files, that is: files that are low-quality or harmful to the user in any way, and how the use of these files might be designed to disrupt the functioning of peer-to-peer networks. The aim of this study is to examine legal aspects of these coming 'noise wars' and how they will affect the networks. The perspective taken is that of architecture regulation -the idea that code is law, as launched by Lawrence Lessig in Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace (Basic Books 1999)
The use of technology has assisted to what Max Weber termed the "disenchantment of the world". Cu... more The use of technology has assisted to what Max Weber termed the "disenchantment of the world". Curiously, however, we see that certain computer applications -primarily computer games -are now used to re-enchant the world by once again allowing magic, moral and narrative into what was thought to be a rational reality. This project -the re-construction of the enchanted state -is an interesting social phenomenon and likewise an important social trend. We describe some of the elements in both dis -and re-enchantment, and provide a small case study of the game Asherons Call to support the hypothesis that we are indeed witnessing a counter-reaction against the rational in today's computer games.
Privacy in the Noise Society
Scandinavian Studies in Law, 2004
In this paper, an economic study of different levels of expected privacy, both individual and col... more In this paper, an economic study of different levels of expected privacy, both individual and collective, is used to demonstrate that we live neither in a dystopian control society nor in a utopian privacy enhanced society, but rather in a noise society characterized by high collective expectations of privacy and low individual expectations of privacy. This has profound consequences for the design of privacy law, privacy enhancing technologies and the sociology of privacy.

SCRIPTed, 2015
What is the relationship between science and law? In one sense the question seems easy to answera... more What is the relationship between science and law? In one sense the question seems easy to answeralmost trivial in fact. Law should look to science and learn from it; it should apply it and respect it. Judges, lawyers and law professors act within the realm of scienceand when the law disagrees with science, well, then it is bad law. That position seems easy enough to defend, but only in the abstract. It is only when we discuss science and law as if they were monolithic, well established bodies of knowledge that the position is straight forward when in reality these span a wealth of different areas, fields of exploration and more or less well-documented facts. It is as evident that law should respect and assume the law of gravity as it is doubtful that it should apply the latest research on multiple universes in quantum physics. Indeed there is an interesting point here: Law occupies an important position between humanities and the natural sciences in that it needs to interpret scientific findings in a way that makes sense in a universe of concepts like "liability", "responsibility", "agency" and "guilt".

Towards the Knowledge Society, 2003
E-.commerce and content distribution models rely on working copyright protection. Copyright is a ... more E-.commerce and content distribution models rely on working copyright protection. Copyright is a part of the necessary trust infrastructure of ecommerce for immaterial goods.The recently introduced legal protection of technical measures is theoretically interesting in that it uses legislation to protect a certain form of architecture. This seemingly double protection is also highly paradoxical, since the technical measures were invented in part to deal with law being unable to protect content on the Internet. We use file-sharing networks, where most piracy is found, to formulate hypotheses about this legislation. It is suspected that the number of circumventions and cracks is low relative to the number of copies -implying that few people actually circumvent copyright protection. While this may seem to strengthen the usefulness of trying to stop such circumvention, we will argue that the relatively low number is not due to a cost constraint, but to the low actual demand for cracks, as opposed to copies and that current legislation will fail.
IFIP International Federation for Information Processing, 2002
Entertainment Computing, 2003
The potentials of using games and gaming for other purposes than just entertainment are very prom... more The potentials of using games and gaming for other purposes than just entertainment are very promising. While today initiatives mainly are focusing on the learning capabilities of games and gaming there are many other potential uses. This new use focuses on combining the advantages of gaming (motivation, stimulation and engagement) while in the same time solving different "serious" and time critical tasks. But along with promises comes economic and cultural differences between the game industry (the developers) and the traditional industries (the users). Even though many of these problems can be avoided by setting up projects differently the biggest challenge is to perhaps to fight the prejudices and preconceptions surrounding both camps.
Is The Answer to the Machine Really in the Machine? Technical copyright protection and file-sharing communities
E-.commerce and content distribution models rely on working copyright protection. Copyright is a ... more E-.commerce and content distribution models rely on working copyright protection. Copyright is a part of the necessary trust infrastructure of e- commerce for immaterial goods.The recently introduced legal protection of technical measures is theoretically interesting in that it uses legislation to protect a certain form of architecture. This seemingly double protection is also highly paradoxical, since the technical measures were
On the evolution of on-line contracts
This paper discusses the evolution of on-line contracts and how a trusted third party service for... more This paper discusses the evolution of on-line contracts and how a trusted third party service for these contracts might be designed. The purpose is to show that contracts can be re-thought in the perspective of evolving information and communication technology. Two metaphors of contract are introduced and discussed. Then the future of contracts, as intelligent, fragmentarised condition clusters is discussed
In this article we study the phenomenon of noise files, that is: files that are low-quality or ha... more In this article we study the phenomenon of noise files, that is: files that are low-quality or harmful to the user in any way, and how the use of these files might be designed to disrupt the functioning of peer-to-peer networks. The aim of this study is to examine legal aspects of these coming 'noise wars' and how they will
In order to profit financially from information standardisation, awareness concerning legal issue... more In order to profit financially from information standardisation, awareness concerning legal issues as well as cost structures is a necessity. Of course, commercial interests do not govern every organisation involved in XML-related projects. Nevertheless, cost is a critical factor in today's information market. The information standardisation process is on-going and has matured over the years. It covers a wide variety
Politics in motion - some reflections on political bias in simulation gaming
International Workshop on Entertainment Computing, 2002
Is there political bias in simulation games? We examine two popular games and show that there are... more Is there political bias in simulation games? We examine two popular games and show that there are indeed political statements in these games, but that they form no coherent political theory. So the answer is yes – there are many political statements, but no single theory or simple bias. We then also suggest that the implementation of politic will become more important over time, as demands for realism increase.
Privacy in a Noise Society
In this paper, an economic study of different levels of expected privacy, both individual and col... more In this paper, an economic study of different levels of expected privacy, both individual and collective, is used to demonstrate that we live neither in a dystopian control society nor in a utopian privacy enhanced society, but rather in a noise society characterized by high collective expectations of privacy and low individual expectations of privacy. This has profound consequences for the design of privacy law, privacy enhancing technologies and the sociology of privacy.
Privacy in a Noise Society
In this paper, an economic study of different levels of expected privacy, both individual and col... more In this paper, an economic study of different levels of expected privacy, both individual and collective, is used to demonstrate that we live neither in a dystopian control society nor in a utopian privacy enhanced society, but rather in a noise society characterized by high collective expectations of privacy and low individual expectations of privacy. This has profound consequences for the design of privacy law, privacy enhancing technologies and the sociology of privacy.
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Papers by Nicklas Lundblad