An Examination of Internet Effectiveness for Non-work Activities

The Internet is frequently used for non-work activities. When used for these purposes, the effectiveness of the Internet in accomplishing these leisure activities becomes an important consideration. Research literature has remained relatively silent in regards to the examination of accomplishing non-work tasks through the Internet. This study uses Davis’ Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a basis to predict different types of common user web activities—entertainment, communicating, and information searching. Using Structured Equation Modeling, this paper examines the effectiveness of the Internet in accomplishing non-work activities. In this study, the overall analysis of the survey data suggests that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness predict all three types of Internet activities. The findings of this study suggest a refinement for constructs in web usage studies and contribute to the expanding of TAM to predict perceived effectiveness of Internet usage

The high seas (C’s) of music piracy in information systems : cost, convenience and choice

Systems and technologies used for unauthorised file sharing have received little attention in the Information Systems literature. This paper attempts to fill this gap by presenting a critical, qualitative study on the motivations for using unauthorised file sharing systems. Based on 30 interviews with music consumers, musicians, and the music industry, this paper reports on the decision of music consumers to &lsquo;pirate or purchase&rsquo;. This paper highlights file sharing from multiple perspectives of users, musicians, and representatives from the music recording industry. Three main themes emerged on the cost, convenience and choice as motivators for unauthorised file sharing.<br /

The High Seas (C\u27s) of Piracy in Information Systems: Cost, convenience and choice

Systems and technologies used for unauthorised file sharing have received little attention in the Information Systems literature. This paper attempts to fill this gap by presenting a critical, qualitative study on the motivations for using unauthorised file sharing systems. Based on 30 interviews with music consumers, musicians, and the music industry, this paper reports on the decision of music consumers to ‘pirate or purchase’. This paper highlights file sharing from multiple perspectives of users, musicians, and representatives from the music recording industry. Three main themes emerged on the cost, convenience and choice as motivators for unauthorised file sharing

Reciprocity and Sharing in an Underground File Sharing Community

This paper presents an ethnography of an underground music file sharing community. Roswell exists as a means to download and share digital music. The web-based community is based on distributed peer-to-peer technology and uses BitTorrent protocols to share content. Actor-Network Theory is used to understand importance of reciprocity and sharing in an online file sharing community, and the role that obligations and banishment play in encouraging active participation. This paper contributes to the Information Systems literature by applying Actor- Network Theory to an ethnographic empirical study of an online music community

Analysis of scale effects in peer-to-peer networks

In this paper, we study both positive and negative scale effects on the operations of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing networks and propose the optimal sizing (number of peers) and grouping (number of directory intermediary) decisions. Using analytical models and simulation, we evaluate various performance metrics to investigate the characteristics of a P2P network. Our results show that increasing network scale has a positive effect on the expected content availability and transmission cost, but a negative effect on the expected provision and search costs. We propose an explicit expression for the overall utility of a content sharing P2P community that incorporates tradeoffs among all of the performance measures. This utility function is maximized numerically to obtain the optimal network size (or scale). We also investigate the impact of various P2P network parameters on the performance measures as well as optimal scaling decisions. Furthermore, we extend the model to examine the grouping decision in networks with symmetric interconnection structures and compare the performance between random- and location-based grouping policies. © 2008 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

The Rise and Fall of Digital Music Distribution Services: a Cross-Case Comparison of MP3.com, Napster and Kazaa

The aim of this research is to assess the role of digital music distribution services in the downturn and restructuring of the music industry. The research was bound by the systems of innovation conceptual framework and explores the dynamics between the technical, social, legal and economic dimensions with the purpose of understanding how the traditional supply chain has changed. The cases of MP3.com, Napster and Kazaa are studied for their historical significance and the sheer breadth of issues they bring to the fore. Data was collected using documentation review and interviews. The findings of the research show that the creation of digital music distribution services initially resulted in disintermediation. However, it was not long before record companies reintermediated into the supply chain with pay-per-download (PPD) and subscription payment schemes. Today, the law seems to be catching up with entities that illegally distribute music but it has not ceased the development of newer online establishments that are technically not in breach of legislation

Scenarios and system dynamics of mobile peer-to-peer content distribution

Vertaisverkkoteknologian menestys kiinteissä verkoissa on johtanut vertaisverkkototeutuksiin myös mobiileissa verkoissa. Mobiilin vertaisverkkoteknologian tulevaisuuden suhteen on tosin vielä paljon epävarmuutta, koska operaattorit ja muut sidosryhmän jäsenet, jotka kärsivät laittoman tiedostonvaihdon seurauksista kiinteän verkon puolella, pelkäävät saman tapahtuvan myös mobiileissa verkoissa. Täten he saattavat yrittää estää mobiilin vertaisverkkoteknologian kehittymistä. On myös epävarmaa onko mobiilille vertaisverkkoteknologialle tarvetta loppukäyttäjän näkökulmasta, eritoten kun mobiililaitteiden suorituskyvyt ovat huomattavasti alhaisempia kuin kiinteiden. Tämä diplomityö keskittyy mobiilin vertaisverkon sisällönjakeluun. Sisällönjakelu on jaettu tiedostonvaihtoon, sisällön suoratoistoon ja kaupallisiin sisältöjärjestelmiin. Työ antaa näkemystä mobiilin vertaisverkon sisällönjakelun olennaisimpiin skenaarioihin, sidosryhmän jäseniin ja heidän kannustimiin. Mobiilin vertaisverkon sisällönjakelun epävarmuutta rajataan käyttämällä skenaarioanalyysiä ja mallinnetaan systeemidynamiikalla. Olennaisimmat skenaariot rakennetaan Schoemakerin metodilla ja niiden mallinnusta yritetään systeemidynamiikan keinoin. Tuloksena saadaan neljä eri skenaariota, jotka on kehitetty brainstorming -tilaisuuksissa ja kirjallisuuskatsauksessa löydettyjen avaintrendien ja -epävarmuustekijöiden perusteella. Skenaarioiden kvantitatiivisen mallinnuksen sijaan mallinnetaan skenaarioihin perustuvan mobiilin vertaisverkon sisällönjakelujärjestelmän dynaamista käyttäytymistä. Vaikka joitakin mobiilia vertaisverkkoteknologiaa hyödyntäviä sovelluksia on jo kehitetty ja käytössä, sekä aihetta tutkittu laajasti, vieläkin on epävarmaa mikä teknologian vaikutus tulee olemaan. Tämä diplomityö esittää mahdollisia vaikutuksia teknologialle ja antaa lähtökohdan tulevalle mobiilien vertaisverkon sisällönjakelujärjestelmien kvantitatiiviselle mallinnukselle. Systeemidynamiikka on toteuttamiskelpoinen vaihtoehto tavallisemmille mallinnustekniikoille, kuten taulukkolaskentamallinnukselle, jonka etuna on järjestelmän takaisinkytkentäsilmukkojen mallintaminen. Kun mobiili vertaisverkkoteknologia kehittyy, enemmän dataa tulee saataville ja vaihtoehtoisten systeemidynamiikkamallien rakentaminen on suositeltavaa.The success of peer-to-peer technology in the fixed networks has led to peer-to-peer implementations in the mobile networks as well. There is, however, a lot of uncertainty regarding the future of mobile peer-to-peer technology as the operators and other stakeholders that were affected negatively by illegal peer-to-peer file sharing in the fixed networks are afraid that it might happen in the mobile domain as well. Thus they might try to prevent mobile peer-to-peer technology from emerging. There is also the question whether there really is a need for peer-to-peer technology in the mobile domain from the end users' perspective, especially as the mobile device capabilities are considerably lower compared to the fixed ones. This thesis concentrates on mobile peer-to-peer content distribution. Content distribution is divided to file exchange, content streaming and commercial content systems. The thesis provides insight to the most relevant scenarios, stakeholders and their incentives related to mobile peer-to-peer content distribution. The uncertainty regarding mobile peer-to-peer content distribution will be bounded using scenario analysis and modeled using system dynamics. The most relevant scenarios regarding mobile peer-to-peer content distribution are constructed using Schoemaker's method and modeling of these scenarios is attempted with system dynamics. As a result four different scenarios are developed based on the key trends and uncertainties discovered during the literature review and brainstorming sessions. Instead of modeling the scenarios quantitatively, the dynamic behavior of a mobile peer-to-peer content distribution system based on the scenarios is modeled with system dynamics. Although there are some mobile peer-to-peer content distribution applications already developed and used, and the topic is considerably researched, it is still uncertain what the outcome of the technology will be. This thesis presents possible outcomes for the technology and provides a starting point for further quantitative modeling of mobile peer-to-peer content distribution systems. System dynamics provides a viable alternative to more common modeling techniques such as spreadsheet modeling, with a distinctive benefit of modeling the feedback loops in a system when used proficiently. As the mobile peer-to-peer technology evolves, more data becomes available and the construction of alternative system dynamics models is encouraged