Motivational Aspects of Legitimate Internet File Sharing and Piracy

Abstract

This chapter examines potential and active customers’ intrinsic and extrinsic values associated with selected legal, ethical, and economic impacts of file sharing, especially in relationship to potential impacts on customer relationship management (CRM). The pros and cons of file sharing are highlighted in a conceptual model and empirically tested through graphical and statistical analysis through hypothesis testing, via factor analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) techniques. Recommendations on the potential growth of file-sharing industry, through the lens of price, competition, increased selection, and regulation, are included. These file sharing topics, issues, and concerns will have a variety of impact on potential and active customers, businesses, and strategic leveraging of CRM. The success of the P2P industry will depend on several important issues: copyright protection, communications infrastructure, and innovative pricing and payments strategies.