Publishers have been experimenting with promotional free downloads of books, and worrying about the risks of electronic piracy but there has been precious little data and analysis to work from. For the past eight months Brian O’Leary at Magellan Media has partnered with Random House and O’Reilly Media to rigorously study the “impact of free distribution on paid content,” which meant examining both giveaways and unauthorized peer-to-peer distribution. The ultimate objective is to develop “a model that describes instances in which free distribution works or may not work,” taking into account the variety of complex influences. The work is still […]