By now, almost without exception, every business has an internet presence, and is likely engaged in e-commerce. What are the major risks perceived by those engaged in e-commerce and electronic payment systems? What potential risks, if they become reality, may cause substantial increases in...

How does the development of formal standards for information and communication technologies shape the behavior of firms that may need the technologies to develop new products and services? We argue that standardization lowers the search costs of identifying important intellectual property rights...

The paper addresses the topic of DRMS with regard to the current situation in the music download market. DRMS were made obligatory by licensing contracts to companies in the music download business in particular of the four major music labels, EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner. Fear of...

Increasingly, cable and satellite TV services (known as “MVPDs”) seek to acquire upstream programming creators, as illustrated by AT&T's recent merger with Time-Warner. At the same time, the pay-TV industry is rife with “most-favored nation” (MFN) agreements, which can sharply constrict...

Esports are now entering at least their fourth decade and are accessible internationally thanks to wide-spread global high speed internet access. The increasing recognition of esports in North America as a legitimate force in the sporting and entertainment markets, follows years of acceptance in...

In this article, we show how new online music streaming services such as Spotify and Deezer can deter piracy. These new services monetize large audiences with low willingness to pay for music. We analyze a simple freemium model in which a firm offers both a free version and a premium version....

We examine whether a firm's IP strategy in support of the open source software (OSS) community stimulates new OSS product entry by start-up software firms. In particular, we analyze the impact of strategic decisions taken by IBM around the mid-2000s, such as its announcement that it will not...

In recent years, high-profile lawsuits involving standards-essential patents (SEPs) have made headlines in the United States, Europe, and Asia, leading to a heated public debate regarding the role and impact of patents covering key interoperability standards. Enforcement agencies around the...

Over the next month, the ICANN Board will consider its options for ensuring that some framework is in place to ensure ICANN's accountability to the global Internet community after the approaching expiration of the its Memorandum of Understanding and Joint Project Agreement (MOU/JPA) with the...

The digital economy has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years, mostly as a result of new digital technologies that are promoting a global transformation to industry 4.0. The resulting expansion of digital trade has sparked off a political and policy controversy on digital economy and...