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The Liability of Politicalness: Legitimacy and Legality in Piracy-proximate Entrepreneurship

Palmås, Karl ; Andersson Schwarz, Jonas and Larsson, Stefan LU (2014) In International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business
Abstract
This article explores three entrepreneurial ventures that have evolved in proximity to online piracy. In reviewing the respective cases of Spotify, Skype, and The Pirate Bay, the argument outlines the radically divergent strategies with which the entrepreneurs have sought to legitimise their ventures and underlying technologies. The article concludes that 1) the context of practices labelled “pirate” are paradigmatic examples of fields in which entrepreneurs must work exceptionally hard to legitimise themselves; 2) in this context, it is crucial that the role of law is analytically isolated from the role of institutionalised legitimacy; and 3) success in legitimisation is largely dependent upon the entrepreneur’s ability to demonstrate... (More)
This article explores three entrepreneurial ventures that have evolved in proximity to online piracy. In reviewing the respective cases of Spotify, Skype, and The Pirate Bay, the argument outlines the radically divergent strategies with which the entrepreneurs have sought to legitimise their ventures and underlying technologies. The article concludes that 1) the context of practices labelled “pirate” are paradigmatic examples of fields in which entrepreneurs must work exceptionally hard to legitimise themselves; 2) in this context, it is crucial that the role of law is analytically isolated from the role of institutionalised legitimacy; and 3) success in legitimisation is largely dependent upon the entrepreneur’s ability to demonstrate that the venture is governed by “the natural order” of the economy. It is further argued that piracy-proximate ventures may contribute to the entrepreneurship field, inasmuch as they teeter on the border of being considered too disruptive, and thus suffer from a “liability of politicalness.” (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Piracy, institutional entrepreneurship, The Pirate Bay, Spotify, BitTorrent, Skype, Kazaa, economic theology, legitimacy, legality, innovation.
in
International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business
publisher
Inderscience Publishers
external identifiers
  • scopus:84931749186
ISSN
1741-8054
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
741ef7f3-8035-4d0e-be9c-eba27a19864e (old id 4434724)
alternative location
http://inderscience.metapress.com/content/b47438614m0h4577/fulltext.pdf
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:46:13
date last changed
2022-02-10 05:49:03
@article{741ef7f3-8035-4d0e-be9c-eba27a19864e,
  abstract     = {{This article explores three entrepreneurial ventures that have evolved in proximity to online piracy. In reviewing the respective cases of Spotify, Skype, and The Pirate Bay, the argument outlines the radically divergent strategies with which the entrepreneurs have sought to legitimise their ventures and underlying technologies. The article concludes that 1) the context of practices labelled “pirate” are paradigmatic examples of fields in which entrepreneurs must work exceptionally hard to legitimise themselves; 2) in this context, it is crucial that the role of law is analytically isolated from the role of institutionalised legitimacy; and 3) success in legitimisation is largely dependent upon the entrepreneur’s ability to demonstrate that the venture is governed by “the natural order” of the economy. It is further argued that piracy-proximate ventures may contribute to the entrepreneurship field, inasmuch as they teeter on the border of being considered too disruptive, and thus suffer from a “liability of politicalness.”}},
  author       = {{Palmås, Karl and Andersson Schwarz, Jonas and Larsson, Stefan}},
  issn         = {{1741-8054}},
  keywords     = {{Piracy; institutional entrepreneurship; The Pirate Bay; Spotify; BitTorrent; Skype; Kazaa; economic theology; legitimacy; legality; innovation.}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Inderscience Publishers}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business}},
  title        = {{The Liability of Politicalness: Legitimacy and Legality in Piracy-proximate Entrepreneurship}},
  url          = {{http://inderscience.metapress.com/content/b47438614m0h4577/fulltext.pdf}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}