Electronic Publishing
A Workshop for Candidates in the Masters in Information Management, University of Western Cape, Cape Town
SESSION 4 - IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS
4-5 June 2002

Roger Clarke

Principal, Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, Canberra

Visiting Fellow, Department of Computer Science, Australian National University

Revision of 2 June 2002

© Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, 2000-02

This document is at http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/EC/EPublW4.html

Here are the PowerPoint slides supporting this session

The home-page for the Workshop is at http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/EC/EPublWksp.html


13:00-13:45 - Presentation

The purpose of this session is to examine the broader implications of electronic publishing, on people, society and politics, and then to reflect on how these broader implications affect businesses. Two topics will be addressed.


4-1. The Organisation-Consumer Relationship

Consumers are being given plenty of reasons not to trust the organisations that they deal with. Companies and government agencies alike need to discover what it takes to earn the trust of their customers and clients.

The following readings are recommended to accompany the presentation:


4-2. A New Dark Ages

The freedoms that the Internet has unleashed seriously threaten powerful organisations, specifically the large publishing houses. Copyright law, by accident, provides them with a means to fight back against the incursions. They are trying to use technical means to sustain their dominance over copyright objects, originators and consumers. They are also seeking, and gaining, new and quite extreme laws to bolster their positions. If they are successful, it will be at the cost of information accessibility that the Internet appeared to herald.

The following readings are recommended to accompany the presentation:


Finally, it is recommended that you re-read this piece, because you'll probably now extract a great deal more from it:


13:45-14:00 - Question-and-Answer Session

14:00-14:15 - Coffee Break


14:15-14:45 - Group Breakout Session

  1. Under what circumstances is it effective for corporations to exercise their market power over their customers?
  2. What is your government's likely stance in relation to the US-driven expansion of copyright law to protect the interests of big businesses in the information sector?
  3. Does the business sector have an approach to consumer protections that is in tune with the public's present and emergent expectations?
  4. What is the public's level of concern about privacy-invasions by business?
  5. Does the business sector have an approach to privacy protections that is in tune with the public's present and emergent expectations?

14:45-15:30 - Mini-Case Study 4: MP3 and Napster

Read these source materials.

What are the challenges that MP3 and Napster present to music publishers?

Are these challenges specific to music, or are similar problems likely to arise with other kinds of materials?

What options are available to corporations to enable these challenges to be addressed?

If these products are here to stay, who wins?

15:30-16:00 - Groups report back in Plenary Session


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Created: 22 May 2000

Last Amended: 2 June 2002


These community service pages are a joint offering of the Australian National University (which provides the infrastructure), and Roger Clarke (who provides the content).
The Australian National University
Visiting Fellow, Faculty of
Engineering and Information Technology,
Information Sciences Building Room 211
Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, ACN: 002 360 456
78 Sidaway St
Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, 6288 6916