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April 06, 2008
Benefits of digital "piracy"
What was it we were accused of when we suggested that downloading of copyrighted material benefitted the music and video production industries? Oh yes, "the most inane comment and lamest attempt at justifying the download of copyrighted material I've ever seen."
Well it looks like we're not the only idiots. Oxford University economist Karen Croxson has done research that indicates that the word-of-mouth (WOM) promotion or "buzz" created by Internet users raving about their finds stimulates latent demand. She says that "WOM's significance for economic outcomes has received little attention from economists, but this is remiss." She quotes other researchers looking at online chatroom conversations to understand the implications for TV show success: "WOM appears to be especially important for entertainment goods."
Posted by cw at April 6, 2008 12:19 PM
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