Here is a report originating from the Phillipines, which as we all know is 'steamroller central'. The story talks about the same tiresome fighting between pirates and the long suffering Hollywood movie moguls, the billions lost when Johnny downloads the movie Soul Plane, etc. Then suddenly, it gets very interesting. Imagine getting up and over your morning coffee, you select a couple movies for download. Then, when you return from work, they are ready to stream from your PC to your big screen or are already encoded to fit on a DVD.
If this report is true, we may be able to do just that and not have to fear the wrath of the US legal system in the process. If they can put something together for us, imagine never having to go to the video store again, only to find the latest release is sold out. In addition, we could even imagine the delay from the cinemas to DVD could be significantly reduced as well. What they are saying in this report, are some studios may be in 'secret talks' with the Distributed Computing Industry Association or DCIA:
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One anti-piracy mechanism for studios involves working directly with P2P networks on payment programs for legitimate downloads. That is the idea behind the 1-year-old Distributed Computing Industry Assn., an Arlington, Va.-based organization whose members include Sharman Networks (owner of P2P network Kazaa) and whose goal is to commercialize P2P for legitimate distribution. Marty Lafferty, CEO of the DCIA, says the DCIA is in "very private discussions with some of the majors at the moment." Lafferty suggests that consumers could be charged a premium for legitimately downloading a file through an authorized P2P service on the day of its theatrical release. Other P2P networks not aligned with the DCIA are also testing the legitimate distribution waters. P2P network eDonkey, which claims about 2 million users and about 40 million downloads per year, has pursued licensing deals for independent films. New York-based eDonkey is one of the most popular file-sharing networks; its downloaders receive files faster than other P2P file sharers because they are accessed in small bits from numerous computers. "We did some deals with independent films about a year ago," says Sam Yagan, president of eDonkey. "But because we licensed no-name movies, users weren't willing to take the risk. The idea didn't work." Yagan says that it has proved difficult to work directly with major studios on similar programs thus far. "None of the major studios have agreed to license us any of their content for sale," he notes. |
Take it easy on the DRM boys and you may be on to something big. What would we pay for such a service? The convenience of such a system would be nice, that's for sure. We should applaud any studios that are contemplating such a venture. Finally, P2P would be able to show that it's a great vehicle for promotion of digital content, bringing the video store to everyone's home.
Source: ABS CBN Interactive
