Amina Ali
January 15th, 2002
ECT 250
Professor Mirza
Chapter 1-2 Case Study
Chapter 1
1. Napster is a good example of a system that has elements from both E-Commerce I and II.
Some elements that are indicative of E-Commerce I is that Napster was entrepreneurial. It
was one of the first systems that used p2p to share music files. In the beginning it was
ungoverned and unregulated. It was also financed by some of the leading Silicon Valley
venture capital firms. When E-Commerce II began, Napster changed quite a bit. After
having to be completely shut down from losing in court, Napster created a legal version,
where now, they are charging a subscription fee (more business driven and earnings and
profits emphasis) and are being regulated more.
2. Napster falls into the p2p e-commerce category.
3.
Napster raised a few social issues within the music industry. The Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA) sued Napster for copyright infringement. Napster users
questioned if sharing music files was really illegal. The “fair use” doctrine of copyright law
permitted individuals to make copies of musical records and share it among their peers, but
some questioned if Napster was taking it too far. I believe that Napster is perfectly legal, but
since it was ruled legal in courts, I can see why colleges ban it from their campuses; hey
don’t want to be a part of anything illegal.
Chapter 2
1.
2.
3.
Some of Priceline’s core components of their business model is that it is a reversauction pricing system (deman collection system). It helps both the consumer and the
business.
I think Priceline will ultimately succeed only if it focuses on the airline ticket business.
In the past couple years, whenever I buy tickets, I have mainly used priceline, as
opposed to Orbitz, or other travel websites. I like Priceline because I can name my own
price, and I usually do find that I get a better bargain there.
Priceline had a good impact on airlines, allowing them to sell tickets that they probably
wouldn’t have been able to sell if they weren’t available on Priceline, and airlines are
still making a good profit.