November 13, 2007 by Jessica Catton
On August 27, 2007, the International Herald Tribune published an article by Dan Mitchell titled “Micropayments arrive on the Web.” This piece examined the evolution and reemergence of the use of small user fees, known as micropayments, in exchange for content on the internet.
After reading Mitchell’s article, the main question that comes to mind is: What do all these second generation forms of micropayments mean for the world of IP? Essentially, are they a good thing or a bad thing for each the users and the right holders of the IP?
From a purely economic perspective, micropayments make sense. In line with the objectives of IP law, right holders should be entitled to compensation for their works. An online user should not have free access to download songs, pictures or articles from the web while a non-internet user is required to pay for the exact same goods.
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