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The Economics of Open Source Hijacking and Declining Quality of Digital Information Resources: A Case for Copyleft

Author

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  • Andrea Ciffolilli

    (Department of Economics, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy)

Abstract

The economics of information goods suggest the need for institutional intervention to address the problem of revenue extraction from investments in resources characterized by high fixed costs of production and low marginal costs of reproduction and distribution. Solutions to the appropriation issue, such as copyright, are supposed to guarantee an incentive for innovative activities at the price of few vices marring their rationale. In the case of digital information resources, apart from conventional inefficiencies, copyright shows an extra vice since it might be used perversely as a tool to hijack and privatise collectively provided open source and open content knowledge assemblages. Whilst the impact of hijacking on open source software development may be uncertain or uneven, some risks are clear in the case of open content works. The paper presents some evidence of malicious effects of hijacking in the Internet search market by discussing the case of The Open Directory Project. Furthermore, it calls for a wider use of novel institutional remedies such as copyleft and Creative Commons licensing, built upon the paradigm of copyright customisation.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Ciffolilli, 2004. "The Economics of Open Source Hijacking and Declining Quality of Digital Information Resources: A Case for Copyleft," Development and Comp Systems 0404008, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 30 Apr 2004.
    • Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpdc:0404008
    Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 20; draft 29 April 2004
    as

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    File URL: https://econwpa.ub.uni-muenchen.de/econ-wp/dev/papers/0404/0404008.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cowan, Robin & David, Paul A & Foray, Dominique, 2000. "The Explicit Economics of Knowledge Codification and Tacitness," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 9(2), pages 211-253, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economics of information and knowledge; intellectual property rights; copyright; copyleft; public domain; open source; open content; hijacking; customisation; Creative Commons; DMOZ; search engine; directory.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
    • K39 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Other
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital

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