Intellectual Property, Business Models and the Digital Domain: A Survey
-Prashant KulkarniAsst. Professor
Indus Business Academy-Bangalore
Presentation at 2nd Researcher’s Confluence on Intellectual Property Rights at S. J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Mumbai, February, 2011
Economic Activities and Change
– Internet and digital revolution• Pigeons/smoke-signals to internet
– Diffusion of information within the society• 70% of wealth accumulated in the rich economies is in
the form of intangible, knowledge based assets (Gelder, 2006)
– Access to information (Assets)• Shift from the private corporations/State to Civil Society?
– Recrafting Global Trade Rules?• Political Economy of TRIPS
IP Literature and Tradition Business Models
• Weak foundations– System independent of space and time– Right holders’ limited-term monopoly and public
benefit of unhindered access to scientific records and cultural traditions
• Ignores key ownership questions
• Shifting battlefield– Digitization of copyrights
IP and Digital Environment
• Weak cross border regulations; liberal cross border flows
• Authority inconsistent with global realities• Rise of non market and non proprietary
means of production• Incompatibility of IPRs and Digital economy
– Danny Quah’s characteristics
Digital Alternatives
• Open Business Models (Chesbrough , 2003)– Recognize the value of ideas being generated
outside the boundaries of the firm– Business-dependent value of IP is crucial for its
effective utilization
Piracy is Good Lessig (2005)
• Creativity vs Creativity (new regimes challenge the old)– Amateur creativity as collateral damage– Copyright wars criminalize creativity, drives piracy
underground become corrosive
• Brazil’s experience• Deregulate and decriminalize
Apple’s iTunes
• P2P vs traditional music industry• Apple’s way –iTunes
– Autonomy of choice– Freedom from legal hassles
Conclusions
• Digital technologies serve as engines of cultural innovation
• Technology is per se neutral• Reconciling and adapting their interests for
both corporations and government will determine the future of the digital era
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