Likewise, content should be traceable from one recipient to another. In any case, adding more locks to a box will frustrate users and drive them away. Making shopping convenient enough to encourage customers to return often entails some risk of pilferage. This model of retailing has been called superdistribution . While enticing repeat business is important, a network economy's unique strength comes from contagion.
Satisfied customers can propel a buzz, quickly multiplying a product's exposure.
All vendors appreciate such marketing cascades, but media and software publishers are most likely to experience them and stand to benefit the most. Well-orchestrated DRM can turn buzz into bucks. When a consumer sends digital content to a friend for which the friend must register and pay to play, a new channel opens. No matter how few recipients actually opt to purchase, each one that does so constitutes a virtually effortless sale, and those that do not may still eventually become customers. Expect publishers to offer new models of DRM-backed digital content soon.