ePublishing Business Models in the P2P Era

Roger Clarke **

Abstract of 11 May 2006

Prepared for a seminar for the Department of Strategy and Management, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Bergen, 22 May 2006

© Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, 2006

This document is at http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/EC/P2P-BM-Bergen.html

The slide-set is at http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/EC/P2P-BM-Bergen.ppt

Abstract

Whether content wanted to be liberated or not, the digital era has liberated it. It's fairly clear that large corporations whose business depends upon revenue flows arising from their control over content are not happy. The latest in the a long series of threats is the technology commonly referred to as 'peer-to-peer' or 'P2P.

The first part of this seminar presents the key features of P2P, showing that it is attractive for a variety of reasons, only some of which involve the appropriation of copyright works.

The second part confronts a not-so-hypothetical future in which appropriation is easy and cheap. It considers what business models may be available to producers of copyright works, and to enterprises that make a business out of managing content for which they have copyright or agency rights. Some models are evolutionary, yet apparently painful for ePublishers to embrace, and others involve more substantial adaptation.

Resources

Further detail is provided in (in chronological order):

• 'Copyright: The Spectrum of Content Licensing' (July 2003)
• 'Peer-to-Peer (P2P) - An Overview' (November 2004)
• 'Towards a P2P Research Agenda' (April 2005)
• 'P2P Technology' slide-set for MSc(ECom) candidates (September 2005)
• 'Open Content Licensing and a 'Fair Go' for Creatives in a Digital Environment' (March 2006)

Author Affiliations

Roger Clarke is Principal of Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, Canberra. He is also a Visiting Professor in the E-Commerce Programme at the University of Hong Kong, a Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre at the University of N.S.W., and a Visiting Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the Australian National University.

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Created: 11 May 2006 - Last Amended: 11 May 2006 by Roger Clarke - Site Last Verified: 15 February 2005
This document is at www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/EC/P2P-BM-Bergen.html
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