[Ecommerce] FYI: policy choices on potential online business models

[Manon Ress]

 From Digital media Project, Berkman Center for Internet & Society at
Harvard Law School

http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/media/content_and_control

QUOTE
Assessing the Impact of Policy Choices on Potential Online Business
Models in the Music and Film Industries

The online environment and new digital technologies threaten the
viability of the music and film industries' traditional business models.
The industries have responded by seeking government intervention, among
other means, to protect their traditional models as well as by
developing new models specifically adapted to the online market.
Industry activity and public debate have focused on three key policy
areas related to copyright holders' control of content: technical
interference with and potential liability of P2P services; copyright
infringers' civil and criminal liability; and legal reinforcement of
digital rights management technologies (DRM).

This paper seeks to support policymakers' decision making by delineating
the potential consequences of policy actions in these areas. To do so,
it assesses how such action would impact relevant social values and four
business models representative of current and emerging attempts to
generate viable revenues from digital media. The authors caution that
government intervention is currently premature because it is unlikely to
strike an appropriate balance between achieving industry goals while
supporting other social values, such as consumer rights, the diversity
of available content, and technological innovation.










--
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC
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Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva
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