VANGUARD: A Blockchain-Based Solution to Digital Piracy

Online pirates and Intellectual Property (IP) holders have been in perpetual war over various products like music, movies, software, etc. since the popularity of the Internet. It is estimated that the US entertainment industry loses approximately 29 billion USD every year for pirates. Online piracy has since gone from bad to worse as growing internet users and better broadband connections enable people to share large files freely over the internet. The objective of this research is to investigate the causes and enablers for online piracy in movie industry and to come up with an anti-pirating solution. The primary outcome of the study will consist of a dedicated block chain based anti-piracy system, ‘Vanguard’. This system will provide all-round piracy protection from a built-in streaming service to a component to actively look through the internet for pirated movies and torrents. This system will greatly deter the piracy of movies since the IP holders can ensure their IP rights through this system and quickly act against illegitimate distribution of their media.

The Unintended Consequences of Antipiracy Laws on Markets with Asymmetric Piracy: The Case of the French Movie Industry

In many markets of the digital economy, some products are more prone to online piracy than some of their substitutes. These situations of asymmetric online piracy distort the competition between products. Using the French antipiracy law known as HADOPI (Haute Autorité pour la diffusion des œuvres et la protection des droits d'auteur sur internet) as a natural experiment, we study the asymmetric effects of online piracy on cinema admissions. Applying four estimation strategies at different levels of observation (town, movie, country, and consumer), we find that introduction of the law is associated with a 9% increase in the market share of American movies but that this increase occurs at the expense of other movies. These findings primarily originate from a high initial level of asymmetric piracy between American and other movies. This asymmetry was attenuated by the antipiracy law, resulting in a fiercer competition between movies and, as a side effect, in a decrease in the legal consumption of less-pirated products. These results have important implications for firms whose profits may be affected by legislation fighting piracy as well as for governments for the design of their policy.

Factors influencing the willingness-to-pay of internet users in Vietnam for the fee-based online contents

The aim of this study is to identify key factors that influence the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of Internet users in Vietnam for fee-based online contents. The study collects 309 suitable questionnaires filled by internet users over 18 years old and living in Vietnam, who frequently use online contents and have ideally made payment for online contents. The analysis results indicate that the willingness-to-pay for the fee-based online contents of Vietnamese users are influenced by their attitudes toward paying and ethical self-efficacy for online piracy. The study also identifies the antecedents of attitude, which include the perceived benefits of usefulness and enjoyment, the perceived sacrifice of the fee, social influences from other people, and especially the free mentality. The study then suggests managerial implications to online content providers in enhancing WTP for the fee-based online contents in Vietnam.