Electronic Commerce Semester 2 Term 2 Lecture 1

Electronic Commerce & Online Publishing There is an enormous expansion in levels of interest among both commercial and corporate publishers about the Web Initially, growth in the online publishing marketplace was driven by the potential of nw interactive technologies and applications The promise of new interactive publishing captured the imagination of both content providers and the public

Initial Problems However, from 1993 to 1995 much of online publishing was inhibited by a lack of business purpose At that time, the content creation side of online publishing was dominated by techno- savvy individuals who were not experienced at selling and who did not understand the business of publishing

The Awakening As the initial euphoria wore off, publishers realised that simply having a presence on the Web did not guarantee profits They discovered that offering exciting technology without compelling content is insufficient to capture market share

The Solution Firms are learning that the best way to capture consumers’ attention is to develop a business model that allows the company to offer unique and valuable information, programming and services This content, no matter how it is delivered, must be packaged so that it provides more value than alternative sources of information The key is to identify what the customer wants and finds interesting and to avoid being distracted by new technologies

New Online Models Online publishers are developing new business models to charge customers direcly and convince them that such charges are justified As more and more firms begin to offer online content, they are being forced to adjust to new customer attitudes regarding pricing

A Changing Business Environment Publishers currently finance their businesses by offering advertisers mass markets for delivering their marketing message in return for large advertising fees and the public has been trained to think that the news, information and entertainment they receive should be subsidised or nearly free and that advertisers will pay the bill This approach may not be viable in the online medium when mass markets are replaced by customers selecting their information and delivery methods

Digital Copyrights Another key issue in online publishing relates to digital copyrights Effective technological protection mechanisms are vital to ensuring the availability of quality content online

Example of Digital Copyright Problem Today, publishers such as Addison-Wesley only offer catalogues or sample selections of works available online They do not and cannot offer more because in an environment where the culture nad technology provide so little protection for the rights of content producers, there is too great a risk to their intellectual property

The Internet & Online Publishing The Internet makes it extremely easy to copy, retransmit, and alter works witout the permission of the copyright holder Moreover, the digital world has no international boundaries, and policing is impossible since the levels of protections and sanctions agaist infringement vary widely in countries across the globe, which makes the risk even greater