Collaborative Content Distribution
Manu Sporny, the CEO behind the Digital Bazaar and Bitmunk digital content distribution service, proposes a business model for distribution which rewards artists, platform intermediaries, and consumers, which includes a respect for copyright, but it DRM - free.
Discussion
Commentary from http://blog.digitalbazaar.com/2006/12/01/collaborative-content-distribution/1/
Beyond Collaborative Content Editing and Superdistribution models
"Currently, there are two different methods of creating content and distributing it via the Internet.
In each method, there are three important roles: the content creator/owner, the content distributor and the content customer.
In Collaborative Content Editing, the content creators can be anybody, including you. The content distributors are the website where the content resides, such as MySpace or YouTube. The content customer is anybody that visits the website. Collaborative Content Editing does not remunerate the content creators but it does reimburse the content distributors via advertising revenue.
In Super Distribution, the content creators are usually professional artists or teams of artists, but can be anybody with talent (talent being a relative term). The content distributors are regular people on the Internet, people that are running programs like BitTorrent. The content customer is anybody that downloads content from the network. This method does not remunerate the content creators nor does it remunerate the content distributors.
“Collaborative Content Distribution ensures that all parties are treated fairly - something that is lacking in today’s current environment." (http://blog.digitalbazaar.com/2006/12/01/collaborative-content-distribution/1/)
Conditions for Success
There are several things that are needed for Collaborative Content Distribution to become successful:
• The content providers must start offering their content to more than just the cable providers. Exclusivity is no longer in the best interest of the content creators.
• A technology platform, Bitmunk being a prime example, must be created that can remunerate the proper parties accordingly. These parties include content creators, content distributors and content customers.
• Services must be launched via the Internet that allow television-like shows and lineups. When it comes to television, content is king.
We can clearly see that
• Collaborative Content Distribution is far more efficient than traditional content distribution models.
• There is no advertising required to make Collaborative Content Distribution more cost effective than basic cable services.
• All of the technological hurdles have been successfully navigated.
• The only remaining issues are ensuring that the older business models and corporations can have a smooth transition to the new Collaborative Content Distribution models." (http://blog.digitalbazaar.com/2006/12/01/collaborative-content-distribution/1/)