6 Protecting intellectual property (IP)
Intellectual property rights (IPRs)protect designs, ideas and inventions and include con-
tent and services developed for e-commerce sites. Closely related is copyright law which
is designed to protect authors, producers, broadcasters and performers through ensuring
they see some returns from their works every time they are experienced. The European
Directive of Copyright (2001/29/EC) came into force in many countries in 2003. This is
a significant update to the law which covers new technologies and approaches such as
streaming a broadcast via the Internet.
IP can be misappropriated in two senses online.
First, an organisation’s IP may be misappropriated and you need to protect against
this. For example, it is relatively easy to copy web content and re-publish on another
site, and this practice is not unknown amongst smaller businesses. Reputation manage-
ment services can be used to assess how an organisation’s content, logos and trademarks
are being used on other web sites.
Secondly, an organisation may misappropriate content inadvertently. Some employ-
ees may infringe copyright if they are not aware of the law. Additionally, some methods
of designing transactional web sites have been patented. For example, Amazon has
patented its ‘One-click’ purchasing option which is why you do not see this labelling
and process on other sites.7 Advertising on the Internet
Advertising standards that are enforced by independent agencies such as the UK’s
Advertising Standards Authority Code also apply in the Internet environment (although
they are traditionally less strongly policed, leading to more ‘edgy’ creative executions online.8 Data protection
Data protection has been referred to in depth in the previous section.Electronic communications are disruptive technologiesthat have, as we saw in Chapter 2,
already caused major changes in industry structure, marketplace structure and business
models. Consider a B2B organisation. Traditionally it has sold its products through a net-
work of distributors. With the advent of e-commerce it now has the opportunity to bypass
distributors and trade directly with customers via a web site; it also has the opportunity to
reach customers through new B2B marketplaces. Knowledge of the opportunities and threats
presented by these changes is essential to those involved in defining marketing strategy.
One of the great challenges for Internet marketers is to be able to successfully assess
which new technological innovations can be applied to give competitive advantage. For
example, personalisation technology (Chapter 6) is intended to enhance the customer’s
online experience and increase their loyalty. However, a technique such as personalisa-
tion may require a large investment in proprietary software and hardware technology to
be able to implement it effectively. How does the manager decide whether to proceed
and which solution to adopt? In addition to technologies deployed on the web site, the
suitability of new approaches for attracting visitors to the site must be evaluated – for
example, should registration at a paid-for search engine, or new forms of banner advertsCHAPTER 3· THE INTERNET MACRO-ENVIRONMENT
Intellectual
property rights
(IPRs)
Protect the intangible
property created by
corporations or
individuals that is
protected under
copyright, trade secret
and patent laws.
Trademark
A trademark is a
unique word or phrase
that distinguishes your
company. The mark can
be registered as plain
or designed text,
artwork or a
combination. In theory,
colours, smells and
sounds can also be
trademarks.
Technological factors
Disruptive
technologies
New technologies that
prompt businesses to
reappraise their
strategic approaches.