Multimedia-a European perspective

In March 1995 a proposal was put forward to set up a working group under the multimedia domain of the EC ESPRIT programme. MAGNET (Multimedia Action Groups NETwork) began officially on 1st December 1995. One of the first activities of the new group was to initiate a structural survey of the way the multimedia sector is evolving. MAG-PIE (MAGNET-Planning Information for Europe) is not a snapshot of the sector, nor is it attempting to compete with commercially available market research data. The objective of the project is to provide developers, suppliers and users of multimedia technologies with the information they need about the structure, trends and future evolution of the European multimedia industry and marketplace in order to plan the evolution of their business. The paper describes some of the early preliminary results emerging from the five study areas, which are: electronic publishing-the ability to use multimedia technologies for the commercial exploitation of information resources; distribution of multimedia products-mechanisms through which electronic information products can be distributed in their various markets; online transactions-the opportunities that exist for implementing new methods of charging for information products; emerging consumer applications-the factors that will create new markets for electronic information products in the consumer/home sector; legal frameworks-existing and emerging legal structures within which commerce in electronic information will be conducted