Shanghai International Forum on Digital Media and Intellectual Property
The IP First Society, a nonprofit organization based in Shanghai, will host the Shanghai International Forum on Digital Media and Intellectual Property. The forum is being held in connection with the Shanghai Intellectual Property Week, and is designed to “bring together global leading thinkers, venture capitalists, bankers, investors, professional advisors, regulators, and policy makers to explore the interplay of digital media and intellectual property from strategic, economic and regulatory perspectives.”
I’ll be appearing on a panel entitled, “Where is the Way-out: Lock & Key vs. Open Access,” discussing whether content owners are better off allowing more open access to their works or employing technological protection measures (DRMs).
The abstract for my talk:
“Competing with Free”
Digital technologies and the internet give consumers unprecedented control over how creative works can be enjoyed and shared. The increase in consumer control results in a corresponding decrease in traditional entertainment companies’ control over their content. In response to this shift, large entertainment companies employ a combination of Digital Rights Management (DRM) and copyright enforcement to extend established business models online. The strategy is unlikely to succeed, however, because strict copyright enforcement and restrictive technological protections are out of line with consumer expectations. Consumers want value and flexibility from their digital content, and piracy offers both while DRM-protected content offers neither. The best way for legitimate content to compete with free content online is to structure a DRM-free internet entertainment distribution model that provides consumers with a combination of flexibility, convenience, service, and features superior to what illicit file-sharing services can offer, at a price point low enough that the switch from pirated to legitimate content is painless.