Napster clones turn their attention to academic e-books

摘要

This article discusses the effects of "Napster-like" clone programs on the future of academic e-books. This review will, first, catalogue the rise and fall of Napster and the development of clone programs that facilitate peer-to-peer file sharing; second, examine the main methods by which e-books are placed on the Web; third, discuss piracy and the subsequent legal issues of intellectual property. Finally, the concept of e-books in the world of academic publications will be analysed.