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This paper studies the impact of software piracy on prominent and non-prominent software developers in markets based on a two-sided platform business. User behavior is imperfect and, when adopting a platform, users only take prominent software into account. We show that prominent software exhibits higher piracy rates than non-prominent software. However, contrary to intuition, this does not necessarily mean that prominent software developers benefit more from increased software protection. Indeed, we show that prominent developers may lose out whereas non-prominent developers may gain from better software protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Abstract: This paper advances the existing knowledge of anti-piracy strategies by proposing an open source strategy (OS strategy) to alleviate software piracy based on a qualitative, case-based, exploratory study of eight software firms operating in China. The paper shows that the OS strategy is conditionally adoptable, depending on how users are willing to pay for services (market conditions); how critical and complex software is required for upgrading and modifications (software conditions); and how firms can avoid resources overloading and/or shortage (firm conditions). The paper also identifies several new indicators to assess the effectiveness of the OS strategy against piracy. Managerial implications about how to improve business in piracy-ridden environment are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper studies the impact of business environments on software piracy and provides strategic implications of the findings. The environment of countries is characterised in terms of political economy, social culture, and technology. This study investigates the effect of these characteristics on the degree of software piracy in each country. By examining polarised countries in terms of piracy, this research concludes that multiple factors impact software piracy, as demonstrated in countries with high and low piracy rates. The findings will be useful for businesses dealing with intellectual property issues. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]