1. Piracy in a two-sided software market
- Author
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Rasch, Alexander and Wenzel, Tobias
- Subjects
- *
SOFTWARE piracy , *COMPUTER software industry , *PROFIT maximization , *ECONOMIC equilibrium , *COMPUTER software development , *SOFTWARE protection , *SOFTWARE compatibility , *PRICES - Abstract
Abstract: This paper studies the impact of software piracy in a two-sided-market setting. Software platforms attract developers and users to maximize their profits. The equilibrium price structure is affected by piracy: license fees to developers are higher with more software protection but the impact on user prices is ambiguous. A conflict between platforms and software developers over software protection may arise: whereas one side benefits from better protection, the other party loses out. Under platform compatibility, this conflict is no longer present. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Published
- 2013
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