Copy-protection policies and profitability

Kinokuni, Hiroshi

doi:10.1016/s0167-6245(03)00036-2

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Nevertheless, content producers continue to claim that sharing “devastates profit” and legislators continue to propose and enact protective legislation (Bakos, Brynjolfsson, & Lichtman, 1999, p. 119). If the amount of copying can be restricted, publishers will have an incentive to restrict the number of copies more severely than is optimal from the viewpoint of social welfare (see also David, 2005; Kinokuni, 2003; Liebowitz, 1985; Varian, 2005).…”

Section: Copyrighting Public Sector Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic theory as it applies to public sector information

Nilsen¹

2010

Annual Review Info Sci & Tec

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IntroductionThis chapter 1 reviews the economics literature pertaining to public sector information. In addition, the economic arguments put forward in government studies and policy documents are reviewed, focusing on the current push for harmonization of public sector information policy across the European Union and the debate as to which model of information dissemination is preferable (i.e., the U.S. open access model versus the more restrictive European model). Some works by economists that appeared in the library and information science (LIS) and other literatures are covered, but the LIS literature in general is not reviewed.The term "public sector information" (PSI) is used here rather than "government information" or "official information." The terms are synonymous, although PSI can be construed more broadly, to include any information produced by public sector bodies, including cultural and educational institutions. Public sector information (and content) is any kind of information that is produced and/or collected by a public body as part of the institution's mandated role. It is directly generated by, and associated with, the functioning of the public sector and is readily useable in commercial applications (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry, Working Party on the Economy, 2006). As will be discussed, the economic value of its commercial use is the focus of much recent attention in Europe.The chapter begins with a brief summary of neoclassical economic theory, including the concepts of market failure and public goods, to lay the groundwork for the review. Readers familiar with these concepts may wish to move directly to the section on the economics of information. The literature on the history of information economics; the definitions of information used by economists; and their concepts of information as a public good, as a commodity, and as a contributor to social value are addressed. The review then focuses on the economic arguments and rationalization for public sector versus private sector supply of information, the impact of PSI on general economic efficiency, commercial re-use, value adding, and revenue generation. Then the literature on the pricing of information and the arguments around the imposition of user fees for PSI, and, finally, the arguments for CHAPTER 10 419 and against copyrighting PSI are reviewed. The vast literature on the economics of e-government and of privatization is not addressed. Neoclassical Economic TheoryNeoclassical economic theory and social welfare theory are of particular interest for this review because both underlie the development of the economics of information. As Nobel economist Donald Lamberton pointed out (1994a), neoclassical economics provided a base and a language for information economics, which was necessary in order to keep an open dialogue with the economics profession, as well as with international and national decision makers in industry and government.According to the neoclassic...

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Section: Copyrighting Public Sector Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic theory as it applies to public sector information

Nilsen¹

2010

Annual Review Info Sci & Tec

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“…2. 19 Other means, such as hardware taxation (Gayer and Shy, 2003) and controlling the number of copies (Kinokuni, 2003), are discussed in recent studies.…”

Section: Market Failure Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection Strategy in the Software Industry: When Should a Firm Close One Eye?

Chu

Pan

Lai

et al. 2009

IIS

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This paper shows that a selective piracy-detection strategy for the monopolist is rational in a reproducible software market. Different detection strategies and the corresponding price/penalty strategies adopted by the monopolist, with the considerations of detection costs and network externality, are demonstrated in a simplified two-period model. Under some specific circumstances, the software monopolist could gain a higher profit if not detecting piracy (closing one eye) at the beginning but detecting it (opening the other eye) later. In short, detection strategies would be time-inconsistent. Moreover, from the social planner's perspective, the monopolist's best detection strategy is not always socially optimal; that is, not-enforcing copyright protection may be privately and socially beneficial.

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“…The model based on this assumption is referred to as the direct appropriability model. 2 Leibowitz (1985), Besen (1986), Besen and Kirby (1989), Varian (2000), King and Lampe (2003) and Kinokuni (2003) investigated when copying or sharing an original information good benefits the publisher, using the indirect appropriability model, in which publishers are able to appropriate the value that copy users place on these copies via pricing of the original. 3 The present paper, which examines the software publisher that can collect the remuneration from the hardware firm and/or the blank media firm, adopts the direct appropriability model.…”

Section: N F O R M a T I O N E Co N O M I Cs A N D P O L I C Ymentioning

confidence: 99%