Browsing Research documents by Author "Veitch, Robert W. D."
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Analyzing the illegal distribution of digital games via BitTorrentDrachen, Anders; Bauer, Kevin; Veitch, Robert W. D. (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The practice of illegally copying and distributing digital games is at the heart of one of the most heated and divisive debates in the international games environment. Despite the substantial interest in game piracy, there is very little objective information available about its magnitude or its distribution across game titles and game genres. This paper presents the first large-scale, open-method analysis of the distribution of digital game titles, which was conducted by monitoring the BitTorrent peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing protocol. The sample includes 173 games and a collection period of three months from late 2010 to early 2011. With a total of 12.6 million unique peers identified, it is the largest examination of game piracy via P2P networks to date. The study provides findings that reveal the magnitude of game piracy, the timefrequency of game torrents, which genres that get pirated the most, and the relationship between aggregated review scores and ESRB-ratings. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8495 Files in this item: 1
drachen_bauer_veitch_2011.pdf (2.033Mb) -
Game piracy activity vs. metacritic scoreDrachen, Anders; Bauer, Kevin; Veitch, Robert W. D. (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The practice of illegally copying and distributing digital games is at the heart of one of the most heated and divisive debates in the international games environment, with stakeholders typically viewing it as a very positive (pirates) or very negative (the industry, policy makers). Despite the substantial interest in game piracy, there is very little objective information available about its magnitude or its distribution across game titles and game genres. This paper presents a large-scale analysis of the illegal distribution of digital game titles, which was conducted by monitoring the BitTorrent peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing protocol. The sample includes 173 games and a collection period of three months from late 2010 to early 2011. A total of 12.6 million unique peers were identified, making this the largest examination of game piracy via P2P networks to date. The ten most pirated titles encompass 5.27 million aggregated unique peers alone. In addition to genre, review scores were found to be positively correlated with the logarithm of the number of unique peers per game (p<0.05). URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8501 Files in this item: 1
drachen_bauer_veitch_2011_2.pdf (165.5Kb) -
A model of individual decisions for digital product product acquisitionVeitch, Robert W. D.; Constantiou, Ioanna (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Ten years after the fall of Napster, digital piracy remains an issue for media and software companies. While scholars often treat digital piracy as a behaviour that needs to be prevented or punished, the user’s decision about how to acquire a digital product involves more than the piracy option. However, the decision between legal alternatives and piracy has received limited attention. Moreover, existing models used in piracy research emphasize some elements of the acquisition decision, but disregard other important influences. This has led to a body of literature that is fragmented and has decontextualised digital piracy by not examining how available legal alternatives are evaluated. This paper makes an attempt to address these issues and presents a model of the user’s digital product acquisition decision in the context of piracy, integrating elements of previous models to reflect the decision’s complexity. Specifically, we use a consumer decision-making perspective as a framework for integrating elements of previous models used in digital piracy research, including those from social psychology, business ethics, criminology, and consumer behaviour. In the model, we depict the acquisition decision as being influenced by the user’s product desire, price perceptions, perceived risks, internal regulators of behaviour, resources, and product availability. Theoretical and empirical evidence from the existing literature is drawn upon in order to provide support for the elements of the model. The paper concludes with an outline for future research and a brief discussion of its contribution. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8500 Files in this item: 1
veitch_constantiou_2011.pdf (70.02Kb)
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