ASSIGNMENT
BACKGROUND AND QUESTION:
The arrival of Napster in 1999, followed by other (illegal) peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing technologies (e.g. Limewire, Kazaa, etc.), allowed internet users to illegally share unauthorised music and impacted the recorded music industry in a significant way. Sales of recorded music (CD albums and singles) fell dramatically and record labels began pursuing legal action against website services facilitating illegal P2P file sharing, as well as individuals caught infringing music copyright. Since this time, legal streaming services (such as Spotify and Apple Music) have entered the market and industry sales have started to recover but illegal downloading/streaming remains an important concern for the industry - particularly with the potential of block-chain technology to again disrupt the industry.
Using the basic demand and supply model as the foundation of your analysis, and importantly the concepts of consumer surplus and producer surplus, explain how the arrival of illegal P2P file-sharing technologies impacted the market for recorded music. In addition to relevant economic theories and concepts, you should also discuss some of the ethical issues that relate to illegal downloading.
You should structure your assignment around the following:
(i) Issues: Identify and explain the main economic and ethical issues related to the introduction of (illegal) P2P file-sharing technologies on the recorded music industry.
(ii) Analysis: Analyse the issues identified in (i). You must use relevant economic theory and ethical arguments.
(iii) Position: Derive your position on the issues identified in (i). You must provide evidence by interpreting, evaluating, integrating and synthesising your analysis done in (ii).
(iv) Critique: Defend your position derived in (iii) against the best possible argument(s) that may be raised in opposition to your position. You must consider the assumptions and implications of your position.
(Hint: When considering consumer surplus, keep in mind consumers can derive surplus from both legal and illegal alternatives).
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
General
The assignment is strictly 1000 words maximum (excluding reference list). It is not necessary to have equal word count for each part above but keep in mind each section is equally weighted (see below).
The assignment must be prepared using a word processing program (e.g. Microsoft Word). As detailed below, however, your final submission must be in PDF format.
It is strongly recommended that you include some figures to assist your exposition. Any included figures should be prepared electronically (e.g. Microsoft Word drawing tool).
Formatting/Referencing
The assignment must be 1.5-spaced. Use a standard font (e.g. Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial) with a font size of 11 or 12.
All sources used in the assignment should be appropriately referenced using a standard referencing system (e.g. Harvard style). The reference list will not count towards your final word count. Consult Macquarie University Library's resources for further information about referencing.
There is no ideal number of references but around five to eight good references would provide a benchmark for an assignment of this length.