WooHoo! On 1/14/2012 6:44 AM, Mark Leiser wrote: > Obama just released the following statement on SOPA... > > http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/01/14/obama-administration-responds-we-people-petitions-sopa-and-online-piracy > > > > > Kind regards, > Mark Leiser > > 145 Kilmarnock Road > Suite 612 > Glasgow G41 3JA > Tel: +44 (0)845 299-7248 > Email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> > Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/markleiser > <http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#%21/markleiser> > Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/mleiser <http://twitter.com/#%21/mleiser> > Fax: +44 0141-404-2633 > > > > > > On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 2:25 PM, Marc Perkel <[log in to unmask] > <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote: > > THE IDEA > ======== > > OK - here's an idea for a solution to the piracy problem that is a > win/win solution. This eliminates the need for SOPA. It is an > outside the box solution so think deeply. The idea is: > > Don't try to stop piracy. Make piracy your friend! > > What we not call piracy - people copying movies and songs over the > internet - can be look at as a free advertising and distribution > system. Allow files to be uploaded - downloaded - copied - and > distributed. The more the better. > > All files will carry ID tags and public keys etc that identify the > copyright owner, rights information, how and where to buy the > product, web site of copyright holder and/or artist. > > Media players will recognize these ID tags and be able to allow > user to immediately purchase anything with a single click that is > tied in through paypal or google wallet or itunes and apps store > or any number of micropayment system. > > Those who provide music players would have an incentive in getting > a small piece of the transaction giving them an incentive to > install that capability. > > The idea is that this is a new paradigm. Piracy becomes free > distribution and advertizing. Kids download - they like it - they > pass it on - they blog about it - and because it is both cheap and > easy - they buy it. At least enough of them buy it that the RIAA > makes a bigger profit than they are now. > > The model assumes that higher volume at lower costs is more > profitable. 1 movie at $10 is the same as 10 movies at $1. The > RIAA and MPA also eliminate their advertizing and distribution > costs. No CDs on plastic being shipped. All money is pure profit. > > The paradigm shift is - yes - there will be piracy. There will be > a LOT of people who don't pay. There will be more who don't pay > than those who do pay. but that's OK because the real test is if > the amount of profit in the new system is greater than that of the > current system. I say it will be. And I have evidence to support that. > > Even those who don't pay benefit the copyright holders. They > download it and play it for free. They like it and pass it on to > 10 friends and 2 friends pay. Thus the one who didn't pay resulted > in 2 sales. The person who didn't pay likes the music and uploads > it to a popular blog and thousands download it resulting in > hundreds of sales and even greater distribution. > > In this model all the copyright holders need to do is put it out > there and spend the money that is automatically deposited in their > bank account by the system. > > WILL IT WORK? > ============= > > I came up with this idea back in 2002 and presented it to EFF who > was disinterested in solutions at the time. Since then a number of > things have happened in the world where this model is already > working. Several major players are already doing similar things > and it works. This is a PDF I had made to explain it: > > http://www.perkel.com/piracy.pdf > > We are all familiar with Apple iTunes and the 99 cent songs. > Google is now selling media through its app store. Amazon is doing > it. Then there are the unlimited subscription models where you pay > $8/month for all you can eat. Netflix/Pandora radio, etc. There > are advertizing supported models like broadcast radio and TV. No > one wants to throw me in jail for watching "Desperate Housewives" > on my TV without paying. > > But - you ask - why would people pay if they don't have to? > > PIracy would still be illegal. But like possession of small > amounts of marijuana in California it would be at best an > infraction. You don't have to pay, but you are expected to. Much > like leaving a tip at a restaurant in America. You don't have to > tip, but people do it anyway. AND - this is important - the media > players make it both cheap and easy to pay. It's one dollar and > one click. It can even be less than a dollar. When I divide how > many shows I watch on Netflix in a month into $8 it come to like > 25 cents a movie. > > And .... this is also important - the music industry is your > friend - not your enemy. The business model where the recording > industry sues the customers for uploading a baby video with music > to YouTube - how does that make sense. That's not marketing - that > terrorism. > > Example: > > Proposed law fir singing a Michael Jackson and uploading it to > YouTube - 5 years in prison. > Killing Michael Jackson (manslaughter) - 4 years in prison > > MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE > ======================= > > In the 1990s I owned a small software company. Had 3-5 employees > and sold about $2 million in network control programs to companies > like PG&E, Wells Fargo Bank, Chase Bank. I had online trial > downloads and I exhibited at trade shows. > > It quickly became apparent that there ware people pirating my > software. I tried to fight it at first but I soon realized that > 2/3 of my business was coming from piracy. People were copying my > programs and passing them around and they were ending up in major > companies who were sending my large orders. And in my case these > were not inexpensive programs. So as wierd as it seemed at the > time - this was working. Piracy was my friend. > > CONCLUSION > ============ > > When you have a system that isn't working it's time to rethink > everything and come up with a completely new paradigm. One thing > that everyone agrees on is that what we have not doesn't work. > Everyone is unhappy. > > The new paradigm suggested here is now proven to work. Netflix, > Apple iTunes, Google, Amazon, Pandora, all working. Making money - > happy customers. If you changed the distribution to include piracy > - it would even work better. > > For example - now you have to download iTunes songs through iTunes > and you're limited to that source and what they sell. But suppose > you download a song from a web site that was just recorded > yesterday? You play it on your iTunes player, you like it, and you > can immediately purchase it through iTunes because the artist has > embedded information into the song file to do that. Apple not gets > a new sale and $$$ without even having to do anything. And the new > purchase is automatically added to Apples inventory and is now > searchable. The possibilities of ways to market media are endless > once you get rid of the idea that a lot of people are going to not > pay. > >