J.P. Poort

Elvis is returning to the building: understanding a decline in unauthorized file sharing

A set of representative consumer surveys shows that in the Netherlands unauthorized file sharing of music has declined substantially between 2008 and 2012. It decreased slightly for games, but almost doubled for films and TV series. Overall, file sharing dropped from 38% to 27% of the population. The empirical evidence presented supports the hypothesis that adequate legal services for downloading and streaming music helped to reduce file sharing, whereas a lack of good digital audiovisual services made consumers turn to illegal alternatives.

Digital fixation: the law and economics of a fixed e-book price

Fifteen OECD countries, ten of which EU members, have regulation for fixing the price of printed books. At least eight of these have extended such regulation to e-books. This article investigates the cultural and economic arguments as well as the legal context concerning a fixed price for e-books and deals with the question of how the arguments for and against retail price maintenance for e-books should be weighted in the light of the evidence. It concludes that while the evidence in defence of a fixed price for printed books is slim at best, the case for a fixed price for e-books is weaker still while the legal acceptability within EU law is disputable. Against this background, introducing a fixed price for e-books is ill-advised.

Measuring the Welfare Effects of Public Television

ABSTRACT Based on an explorative case study in the Netherlands, the authors developed a methodology to assess the welfare effects of public service broadcasting. This methodology consists of a combination of revealed and stated preferences, using readily available data for all programs broadcast in the evening in 2011. The results cover both individual programs and an aggregate level. Because the data used encompass both public and commercial programs, the analysis allows for comparisons between these.

Perspectives of creators and performers on the digital era

In this contribution, a nearly comprehensive survey among creators and performers in media, arts and entertainment in the Netherlands is presented. It concerns the implications of digital reproduction and distribution for the creative professions as perceived by those working in it. Based on regressions and cluster analysis of the survey data, an analysis is provided of income developments and perceived threats and opportunities of digitisation, as well as an exploration of the underlying socio-economic and professional factors. Many creators and performers perceive digitisation primarily as a threat. Although age is a relevant explanatory factor for the opinions regarding digitisation, the notion of a generation gap is shown to be an oversimplification. Other relevant dimensions include income development, education level and the way digitisation has affected respondents’ discipline.

File Sharing and Its Impact on Business Models in Music

Industries involved in creating, producing, commercializing and distributing content find themselves facing major change because of digitization. These include the music and film sectors, and for over a decade now also the games sector. Digitization is changing the face of the content industry, with new types of distribution emerging and the boundaries between the different industries blurring. New opportunities are arising while challenges to existing ways of operating require reinvention as digitization enables consumers to access music, films and games in new ways. File sharing — the uploading and downloading of music, films and games — has become a reality, even if experience shows that online sharing often occurs without the explicit agreement of the right holders, who thus do not receive any payment. Companies producing content worry about the damage to revenues for which file sharing is said to be to blame.

Assessing the value of flexibility in the Dutch office sector using real option analysis

Flexibility is one of the key aspects of the Zuidas project, a major construction project for office and housing space in the Amsterdam region. Real option analysis was used to estimate the value created by two specific kinds of flexibility: the option to postpone the construction of office space after certain preparations have been made, and the option to turn housing space into office space after a certain time.