Econ and Security papers
Ross Anderson has added three papers to his Economics and Security Resource page:
- Fetscherin and
Vlietstra’s DRM
and music: How do rights affect the download price? shows that the
prices of music tracks sold online are mostly determined by the rights
granted to the purchaser – including the right to burn, copy or export
the music – and also by the label and the location.- Felix Oberholzer
and Koleman Strumpf’s The
Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales — An Empiral Analysis
examines the correlation between downloads and music sales. They show
that downloads do not do significant harm to the music industry. Even
in the most pessimistic interpretation, five thousand downloads are
needed to displace a single album sale, while high-selling albums
actually benefit from file sharing. (See also a press
report of a musicians’ survey.)- Yooki Park and
Suzanne Scotchmer’s Digital Rights
Management and the Pricing of Digital Products argues that DRM
does not have to be perfect – the cost of circumvention needn’t be
raised above the monopoly price; that technical protection may still
yield more revenue than legal protection, as it may never expire; and
that separate DRM systems may yield higher prices than a shared
system, because of the greater incentives for, and effects of,
circumvention. It also looks at how the structure of a DRM consortium
such as the TCG might promote, or inhibit, collusive behaviour among
content vendors.
The page is a wonderful resource, I just wish it were harder for Ross to keep up with the flow of new, worthwhile work. [Clarification: Because that would mean more good work was coming out.]