Information Rules

{{short description|1999 book by Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian}}

{{Primary sources|date=April 2009}}

{{Infobox book

| name = Information Rules

| image = Information Rules.jpg

| caption = A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy

| author = Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian

| illustrator =

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| country = United States

| language = English

| series =

| subject = Network economy

| genre = Non-fiction

| publisher = Harvard Business School Press

| pub_date = 1999

| media_type = Print

| pages =

| isbn = 978-0875848631

| oclc =

| dewey =

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}}

Information Rules is a 1999 book by Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian applying traditional economic theories to modern information-based technologies.{{Cite book |isbn = 087584863X|title = Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy|author1 = Shapiro|last2 = Shapiro|first2 = Carl|last3 = Carl|first3 = Shapiro|last4 = Varian|first4 = Hal R.|year = 1998| publisher=Harvard Business Press }} The book examines commercial strategies appropriate to companies that deal in information, given the high "first copy" and low "subsequent copy" costs of information commodities, such as music CDs or original texts.