A privacy-friendly architecture for future cloud computing. (1st January 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Petrlic, Ronald; Sekula, Stephan; Sorge, Christoph
• Is Part Of: International journal of grid and utility computing. Volume 4:Number 4(2013)
• Page Start: 265
• Page End: 277
• Publication Date: 2013-01-01
• Subjects: future cloud computing -- digital rights management -- privacy protection -- anonymous payment; Electronic data processing -- Distributed processing -- Periodicals; Electronic commerce -- Management -- Computer programs -- Periodicals; 004.605
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1741-847X

Abstract

We present a privacy-friendly architecture for a future cloud computing scenario where software licensing and software payment plays a major role. We show how digital rights management as a technical solution for software licensing can be achieved in a privacy-friendly manner. In our scenario, users who buy software from software providers and execute it at computing centres stay anonymous. At the same time, our approach guarantees that software licences are bound to users and that their validity is checked before execution. Thus, digital rights management constitutes an incentive for software providers to take part in such a future cloud computing scenario. We employ a software re-encryption scheme so that computing centres are not able to build profiles of their users – not even under a pseudonym. We make sure that malicious users are unable to relay software to others.