Call For Papers for Intellectual Property Rights in the Digital Economy: Issues, Economics, Law and Ethics

Part of the Internet and the Digital Economy Track

at the Thirty-fifth Annual

HAWAI'I INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SYSTEM SCIENCES

on the Big Island of Hawaii

January 7 - 10, 2002

Minitrack Chairs:

Ram Gopal (ram@sba.uconn.edu) & Alok Gupta (alok@ sba.uconn.edu)

DESCRIPTION

The emergence of new digital technologies has lead to a renewed examination of intellectual property rights of information goods such as software, music, movies, magazines, and newspapers. This mini-track will invite researchers to present their work on issues relevant to intellectual property in the digital age. The papers considered could be technical, analytical, empirical, prototype descriptions, or conceptual. We will like to have a mixture of all the issues presented and discussed including the social, behavioral, and international issues.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Technology and the protection of digital goods: The most common forms of protection are technical solutions such as simple alphanumeric keys for software, complex dynamic keys that are based on processor imprints for specialized software, and software-based protection of copying CDs and DVDs. Development of novel techniques, analysis and evaluation of techniques, and technology implementation are all relevant issues of interest.
• Economics of intellectual property: While technology-based solutions attempt to maximize the protection of intellectual property, producers of intellectual property are interested in maximizing the economic value of their intellectual assets. An interesting development from the systems and economics research suggests that a degree of piracy, albeit controlled, might in fact be optimal. These studies incorporate a number of unique economic characteristics of digital goods: network externalities, experience goods, and advertising effects of piracy. The research of interest ranges from analytical modeling and cost benefit analysis of piracy and protection levels, empirical research to identify the factors that affect piracy, creating third degree price discrimination to control piracy, to legislatively designing appropriate incentive structure (in terms of subsidies, investment, etc.) to control the piracy levels.
• Public Policy and Legislation: The Internet and digital economy give rise to interesting policy and legal questions. For example, consider the interaction between distribution right and public performance protection in case of digital products. It has been suggested that recognition of distribution by transmission should not consider the public performance right. The scope of the public performance protection may not be diminished by the recognition that a transmission may fall within the scope of the distribution right. If a copy of a motion picture is transmitted to a computer's memory, for instance, and in the process, the sounds are capable of being heard and the images viewed as they are received in memory, then the public performance right may well have been violated. There are many such issues that researchers need to understand and consider.
• Moral and Ethical Issues: At its core, threats to intellectual property arise from individuals making decisions to illegally share and obtain digital goods. The ethical and moral underpinnings that impact such behaviors and attitudes, and the ensuing implications of enforcing intellectual property rights are critical issues. The expansion of intellectual property rights is viewed by some as an attempt by rich countries and wealthy monopolies to extract wealth from developing countries.

IMPORTANT DEADLINES

March 31, 2001 Abstracts submitted for guidance and indication of appropriate content.

June 1, 2001 Full papers submitted to Minitrack Chairs.

Contact minitrack chairs for submission instructions.

August 31, 2001 Notice of accepted papers sent to Authors.

October 1, 2001 Accepted manuscripts sent electronically to the publisher.

Authors must be registered for the conference by this date.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PAPER SUBMISSION

1. This minitrack accepts electronic submissions (usually in Word or PDF).

2. Do not submit the manuscript to more than one Minitrack Chair. Papers should contain original material and not be previously published, or currently submitted for consideration elsewhere.

3. Each paper must have a title page to include title of the paper, full name of all authors, and complete addresses including affiliation(s), telephone number(s), and e-mail address(es).

4. The first page of the manuscript should include only the title and a 300-word abstract of the paper.

All submissions and inquiries should be directed to one of the following:

Ram Gopal Operations & Information Management School of Business Administration, U-2041 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT 06269-2041 Telephone: (860) 486-2408 Fax: (860) 486-4839 Email: ram@sba.uconn.edu

Alok Gupta Operations & Information Management School of Business Administration, U-2041 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT 06269-2041 Telephone: (860) 486-6416 Fax: (860) 486-4839 Email: alok@sba.uconn.edu

TRACKS AT HICSS-35

* Collaboration Systems; Co-Chair: Jay Nunamaker; Email: nunamaker@bpa.arizona.edu

Co-Chair: Robert O. Briggs; Email: bbriggs@GroupSystems.com

* Complex Systems; Chair: Robert Thomas; Email: rjt1@cornell.edu

* Decision Tech. for Management; Chair: Dan Dolk; Email: dolker@redshift.com

* Digital Documents; Chair: Stephen Smoliar; Email: smoliar@pal.xerox.com

* Emerging Technologies; Co-Chair: Ralph H. Sprague; Email: sprague@hawaii.edu

Co-Chair: Hesham El-Rewini; Email: rewini@cs.unomaha.edu

* Information Technology in Health Care; Chair: William Chismar

Email: chismar@dscience.cba.hawaii.edu

* Internet & the Digital Economy; Co-Chair: David King; Email: dave@comshare.com

Co-Chair: Alan Dennis; Email: ardennis@indiana.edu

* Organizational Systems & Tech.; Chair: Hugh Watson; Email: hwatson@uga.edu

* Software Technology; Chair: Hesham El-Rewini; Email: rewini@cs.unomaha.edu

http://cs.unomaha.edu/-rewini/SWT-CFP.html

For the latest information; visit the HICSS web site at: http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu

HICSS conferences are devoted to advances in the information, computer, and system sciences, and encompass developments in both theory and practice. Invited papers may be theoretical, conceptual, tutorial or descriptive in nature. Submissions undergo a peer referee process and those selected for presentation will be published in the Conference Proceedings. Submissions must not have been previously published.

CONFERENCE ADMINISTRATION:

Ralph Sprague, Conference Chair

Email: sprague@hawaii.edu

Sandra Laney, Conference Administrator

Email: hicss@hawaii.edu

Eileen Dennis, Track Administrator

Email: eidennis@indiana.edu

For the latest information; visit the HICSS web site at: http://www.hicss.hawaii.edu

2002 CONFERENCE VENUE:

Hilton Waikoloa Village (on the Big Island of Hawaii)

425 Waikoloa Beach Drive

Waikoloa, Hawaii 96738

Tel: 1-808-886-1234

Fax: 1-808-886-2900

http://www.hilton.com/hotels/KOAHWHH/index.html?show=all

www.hiltonwaikoloavillage.com

NOTE: December 1 is the deadline to guarantee hotel room reservation at conference rate.