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It is widely recognized that peer-to-peer (P2P) networks offer opportunities as a legal and costefficient content distribution model. This resulted in an accumulation of literature concerning technical issues. Comparatively little attention has been paid to economic analysis of P2P systems as enabling technologies. This paper examines the value networks of P2P TV, by means of an actor-roles analysis of three cases: VeriSign, Joost and Vuze. This analysis allows us to grasp: how several actors position and distinguish themselves from competing companies, who creates value and what motivates actors to execute certain roles. The main findings reveal many significant differences between the compositions of the three value networks under examination. The results suggest that some P2P providers are not only involved in content distribution, but in B2C roles as well. Finally, we found that, in some cases, end users have become more actively involved in value chains.

The popularity of (illegal) P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing has a disruptive impact on Internet traffic and business models of content providers. In addition, several studies have found an increasing demand for bandwidth consuming content, such as video, on the Internet. Although P2P systems have been put forward as a scalable and inexpensive model to deliver such content, there has been relatively little economic analysis of the potentials and obstacles of P2P systems as a legal and commercial content distribution model. Many content providers encounter uncertainties regarding the adoption or rejection of P2P networks to spread content over the Internet. The recent launch of several commercial, legal P2P content distribution platforms increases the importance of an integrated analysis of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT).

The popularity of (illegal) peer-to-peer file sharing has a disruptive impact on the internet traffic and the business models of content providers. In addition, several studies have found an increasing demand for bandwidth consuming content. It is widely recognised that illegal file sharing applications demonstrated the potential of peer-to-peer systems to distribute popular content in a scalable and inexpensive way. However, there has been relatively little economic analysis of the potentials and obstacles of peer-to-peer systems as a legal and commercial content distribution model. Many content providers encounter uncertainties regarding the adoption or rejection of peer-to-peer networks to spread content via the internet. The recent launch of several commercial, legal peer-to-peer content distribution platforms, which are still mainly beta versions, increases the importance of an integrated analysis of the internal strengths / weaknesses and the external opportunities / threats. This paper explores these internal and external aspects by means of an integrated SWOT analysis.