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Kazaa/Altnet To Pay Users For Trading Content

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the not-as-good-as-it-sounds dept.

mesozoic writes "News.com is reporting that Kazaa and Altnet are unrolling a setup where users are paid to distribute 'authorized content.' The article also mentions something about getting rid of unauthorized files, but is unclear on when and how. I'll be paying close attention to whether this P2P business model pans out; Sharman _has_ shown some shrewd business sense in the past."

3 of 225 comments (clear)

  1. Seems to me.... by SpaceCadetTrav · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...that it would be easier to just host the content themselves. The real value is in getting listed in the search results, and bandwidth is relatively cheap compared to the complexity of a system that tracks and pays random idiots on the net. Of course, I am probably wrong.

    --
    Life in Orange County
  2. What is the conversion rate by UnknowingFool · · Score: 5, Insightful
    between peer points and actual items. I think any likelihood of success depends on how many points it takes to get something good. If it's like 10,000 points (a point per MB downloaded) to get a pen, most people won't bother.

    Another thing that Kazaa may remember that sometimes people may have more altruistic motives. Take for example Seti@home. Millions of people allow SETI to use their computers to analyze data signals for no charge. It might a little more successful if Kazaa allows points to be donated to charities at a higher rate.

    Without more details it's hard to say how this system will really work.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  3. Could Anyone Really Trust Kazaa by yintercept · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In reading the article, I can't help but wonder if anyone is really foolish enough to trust Kazaa with their money? As an advertiser, I would always wonder if the paid downloads really happened (was it actually a person downloading or a hackering mimicking downloads for cash?)

    As a host, I wouldn't put much faith in actually ever receiving cash from the company. Schemes like this tend to have a history of absconding with the cash.

    Of course, it would be nice if there were an easy way for college students to make a little bit of cash by selling their school's bandwidth.