Intellectual property (IP) rights help creators limit who uses their work without giving value in return. This protection encourages innovation in thought and expression. Academics featured on this site research topics such as open source licensing, digital rights management, patent reform, IP and technical standards, trademarks, and trade secrets.
Advanced Web-based technologies now allow consumers to either keep files and functions on the desktop, or to buy those services from firms running computer servers elsewhere. Researchers featured on TAP explore the implications of these trends for pricing, competition, and security of content and services delivered and housed remotely.
Competition policy uses economic analysis to enhance our understanding of how firm behavior affects social welfare. Scholars featured on this site consider how technology markets function, and the special issues raised by networks, platforms, interoperability, and bundling by firms like Google, Apple, and Microsoft.
Researchers today are trying to understand how information technology affects wealth, productivity, and economic growth while studying the impact of political and legal ground rules. Academics featured here are looking at the potential to raise standards of living and keep policymakers aware of emerging trends in technology.
Information technology lets people learn about one another on a scale previously unimaginable. Information in the wrong hands can be harmful. Scholars on this site consider problems of privacy, fraud, identity, and security posed by the digital age.
