Slashdot Mirror
KaZaA Wants to Be An Official Content Distributor
scubacuda writes "Detroit News: Nikki Hemming, CEO of KaZaA, says KaZaA wants to be the official online distributor for the entertainment industry. 'Realize that this technology is inexorable, and come to the table,' says Hemming to our friends Hilary Rosen and Jack Valenti."
"When users want one, they pay a royalty fee. If they want to share files, the system forces the next person who wants to get it to also pay the fee. '
so this is really where KaZaa 'comes to the table' and joins the establishment.
Advertising can only take you so far. At some point you've got to sell your soul and talk to the bigwigs.
What kind of safeguards are going to need to be put in place to make sure that content isn't simply distributed to the ends of the earth like it is now? Un-bypassable commercials?
I have been pwned because my
Personally, I think a tool like Kazaa would be perfect for a TV network to distribute programming. They could seed next week's episode of whatever into the network and allow it to be distributed to those who want to receive it. Use DRM to expire content after a week after you first play it if you want, but this would allow me to retrieve a program and then watch it at my convenience.
.... oh shoot... I just dropped my rose-colored glasses... nevermind...
(I'd prefer a TivO, but they're not in Canada, yet...)
Wouldn't it be something if a network actually embraced Kazaa?
This will never work. The credibility of this service now could not be worse with the RIAA et al, they would never agree to sell their content on Kazaa. Especially since the Kazaa model would give them very little control over their own content, they'd never go for it. Presumably Hemming knows this (I can't imagine her being naive enough not to), I wonder if she is just taking the opportunity to try and goad Rosen and Valenti...
This is a great idea that KaZaA has been trying to implement for quite some time now. However, after seeing musicians challenge Apple to force selling of entire albums as opposed to just songs it's almost clear that the RIAA isn't willing to do away with its current business model to stop copyright violations. The RIAA wants everyone else to change but won't think about changing themselves.
While this statement might seem like anathema, I believe that distribution of the latest games through P2P content is a great way to "push" new games as they come about, rather than having to wait for physical media to be manufactured, or strain a single download server.
With increasing number of game consoles connected to the net via broadband connections, I believe the revolution that must be grasped is the fact that games will be online already. Therefore, a viral distribution mechanism whereby gamers download games from each other rather than through the outdated 20th century paradigm of buying physical media for one lump sum will be compelling and open new possibilities for design.
The interest and challenge for game designers will be to segment their games in a way such that one can get "started" playing immediately on a partial game download (and probably pay a little as each game downloads), while the rest of the game continues to download in the background, and in my laboratory, we are currently investigating architectures, both software and economic, for such "game streaming", as we call it. Think of it as the old Apogee/iD games where you downloaded/bought games one episode at a time.
As for issues of payment, authentication and piracy, with games having an online component, people will pay not to get the actual code or the media, but rather a "account", "CD key", or other unique identifier. Because such identifiers are always maintained on the server side, they are a (and the only guaranteed) crack-proof way, since one can't crack them client-side.
We at Nintendo are quite excited about such potential revolutions in game distribution and marketing, and look forward to a future where people are empowered to share their games, rather than stigmatized for it.
-- Samir Gupta, Ph. D. Head, New Technology Research Group, Nintendo Co. Ltd., Kyoto, Japan.
Kazaa's intention to distribute licensed content via its users rather than via a central server
Kazaa intends to reward users with 'points' which they can spend on more content or prizes, for distributing this content for them
What remains to be seen though, is whether users will be willing to pay for the kind of content that they are used to downloading for free, and could probably obtain for free elsewhere. Given that Kazaa's users are already used to this convinience, it seems unlikely that they will start queueing up to get their copyrighted files in legal form. This is especially true since the download of these new licensed files from other P2P users will likely be no faster or more reliable than other files of more dubious legality. Also by allowing users to handle the distribution, the door is opened for cracks that allow people to start handing out their already purchased content for free. I'm unsure how Kazaa intends to stop this from happening, and with the files already stored on a user's machine, any method they select should be fairly simple to overcome.
Napster, Kazaa and Gnutella, etc. are great for poor people (i.e. most of us) or for companies that aren't making any money off the downloads to serve large amounts of data without buying expensive infrastructure. However, for a business that actually expects to make money off the service, I think that distributed P2P is irrelevant. You lose control over quality of service and availability without saving that much money.
I don't see why the music industry would use Kazaa's technology and I don't see why users would want Kazaa's nasty DRM.
Anybody who cares about the system of intellectual property which has made the American entertainment and information technology industries so dynamic, and enjoys their fine products, from Windows XP to the "Lord of the Rings" movies to your new cell phone with built-in games and internet access, should understand the necessity of crushing Kazaa once and for all.
What should be crushed once and for all is Microsoft and the RIAA.
On the off chance that you're serious, do you really want to lump Microsoft, the recording industry, and the film industry together? No doubt the MPAA has done some heinous things, but at least those folks can reliably deliver good products at reasonable prices. The brand new extended cut multi DVD package of LOTR is like $28; whereas any crap band you can name goes for $18 for a CD.
There's just something about the recording industry that has them pushing inferior products at ultra-high markups. God bless Kazaa, especially if it hastens the recording industry's ruin. I'm never going to give the RIAA another nickel, if I can help it. I support the bands I like by catching them live, and if I really want a new CD I'll buy it at their show or order it from their online store (so they walk away keeping at least half the price of the CD.) And yeah, I listen to a bit of commercial garbage, and the stuff I like I buy used, listen for a while, and then trade it in. That way, the record companies don't get a penny.
And as for Windows XP and Microsoft, don't get me started.
Once again, however, I'm not defending the MPAA people so much as saying that at least they are capable of delivering a great product at a reasonable price. I think the world would be a better, richer place with a far more flourishing software and music scene if Microsoft and the big music labels were systematically denied their income. I'm voting with my wallet to make that happen, and you should too.
I'm generally "Interesting," "Insightful," and even "Funny" here. What the hell happens to me at parties?
Why don't they use this mind/marketshare to blackmail ability folks into buying what they've been stealing,
why can't they be a subsidiary or offshoot of the recording industry. The riaa didn't get this big by being stupid over the years.
If not then the next generation of p2p will.
I know i'm paranoid, it's a lifestyle choice
If Kazaa plans on making money from using other people's bandwidth, isn't that going to be in violation of some ISP's service agreements? I know my ISP prohibts "commercial" use, so if I share files and for which I am paid in some form, wouldn't that in violation of that agreement?
Granted, they don't seem to mind p2p right now unless they get a notice from the RIAA/MPAA, but if Kazaa goes legit I could see them demanding a piece of the pie too.
It like the gangsters get together and meet with teh FBI and say
"You give us a piece of the action and we will limit crime to only say 80% of what it is now."
"It's in both our best interests. We already know how to distribute illegal goods. This way it stays at a managable level"
Insane. Kazza aproachs it's arch-enemy and proposes,use our service to sell your goods.
You can't touch us in court because we're incormporated in some unknown island, so you better play ball.
Shouldn't someone at Kazaa have read the book, "All The Rave: The Rise And Fall Of Shawn Fanning's Napster"? Wouldn't they have learned that one of the reasons Napster failed because they tried to hardball the labels and back them into a corner? Just because Kazaa, Napster, or whoever, has the technology and the users, the industry still has the law and the money.
Every year it is getting cheaper for musicians to produce themselves, this trend shows no sign of letting up. Plus, there are options to the "5 major label" system for distribution of music on the net right now. The only piece missing is promotion ....
p2p is showing us the power of grassroots word of mouth to the max. If one of you geniuses could tie an opensource p2p app with an open source jukebox app that spits out true favorites charts, and pays the content creators 0.05 dollars per download through micropayment schemes, using performance rights organizations as a model (bmi, ascap), you could create the majorist of all music labels. And get your music way cheap without "stealing". A penny for your thoughts, a nickel for a song, and forget corporate control of music ever existed.
maybe the meek will inherit the earth. maybe the stars will realign. maybe the true stars will shine without the hollywood filter
Instead of waiting for the [MP|RI]AA to kill them, they decide to commit suicide.
They push viruses. They (try to) push spyware. They (try to) sell my CPU and bandwidth. Now they want me to pay them for the priviledge of receiving content from Bob. And they expect me to give that content to Sally when she pays them.
In other words, they want us to pay to commit (in the [MP|RI]AA's eyes) piracy, with only their say-so that it's above board.
Here's a better idea. When I want to download from Bob, I pay Bob and trust him to pass the money on to the rights holders. When Sally wants to download from me, she pays me. Kazaa can go screw themselves, and die penniless and alone. Hell, I'll cheer on the [MP|RI]AA when they finally bring these fuckers down.
You think that a company that's asserting that the technology (peer to peer) is here to stay would realise that the moment they try to turn that technology into Kazaa-to-slave, they'll be dropped faster than SCO shares.
I walked away from Kazaa (lite) a long time ago. eDonkey (well, eMule) is where it's at today. When that goes darkside (maybe tomorrow), there's always gnutella. P2P is here to stay. Rosen and Valenti can't stop it. Kazaa can't sell it out. They need to realise that the days of obscene profits from music and movies are over. It will be lean days ahead, and while that sucks for the working Joes in those industries, well, if you're still making buggy whips when the first automobile drives into town, you belong to the past, not the future.
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Again I'm stuck trying to ponder why I would re-purchase something I've already purchased? Just to have it in the newest media/technology with the little extras that the production house decided to add-on for good measure so that they can sleep better knowing that they've somewhat bettered the product?
Well all of you know that's bullcrap...
Send me your money -Suicidal Tendencies
Afterall, isn't exactly what we're supposed to be paying for? New technology with sharper this and crisper that? In which case it's not really the material that's new and only the media that's improved is it not?
Everybody is out to make a dime anyway. How many people have gotten jipped by buying something that they had already on Vinyl or Tape only to find out that whatever new media they were getting their material on, wears out just the same after normal use.
So to resume, aren't we stuck in a consumer circle where the technology gets improved but not enough to outlast time, for a few new frills? With the advent of DVD and newer movies I would agree that you get more bang for your dollar, but for the older material? No way.
In which case you have old bands comming out with new stuff which is fine for the newer technology, but just remastering something over and over to sell something to some poor fool that needs to spend money on a simili-product.
It also bothers me that this new technology is being produced on the sweat of the previous products and that the market will turn around and choose to discontinue any media that they find redundant or not market conscious. What do you say to that?
Everybody together now: FUCK
QD p.s. how's that for being sheep?