Marc, You might like Tanja Aitamurto's article 'My Dad, SOPA and Me' http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tanja-aitamurto/my-dad-sopa-and-me_b_1286112.html( see also 'Piracy is part of the digital ecosystem' http://www.mondaynote.com/2012/01/22/piracy-is-part-of-the-digital-ecosystem/) regards, Alex On Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 5:25 PM, Marc Perkel <[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 <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. >