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BitTorrent "Bundles" Create Cash Registers Inside Artwork
cagraham writes "BitTorrent has released a new file format called Bundle into closed alpha-testing today, according to VentureBeat. The format allows artists to embed a paywall inside of their work, and then distribute the art for free over BitTorrent. When users open the work they can listen or view part it for free, and are then prompted to either pay a fee, turn over their email address, or perhaps share the work over social media, in order to see the rest. The new format may ease artists concerns about releasing work for free and having to hope for compensation in the future. Artists who have already signed on include Madonna, The Pixies, and author Tim Feriss."
They've reinvented demoware.
Unless there is yet another crappy DRM scheme buried inside these "bundles", what stops people from simply redistributing a paywall-free version?
Seeding CRM protected files has newer been difficult. It just so happens nobody wants to download them ...
- Jesper
My security clearance is so high I have to kill myself if I remember I have it...
Describing the mechanism as a pay-wall probably does the feature a disservice - of course, one way of unlocking is pay, but it is stil possible to view free, and a more useful corollary as demonstrated in the article is that the artist can more effectively drive the user to a retailer of their merchandise (and a preferred one at that), or to their own store.
As usual, persons who specifically do not wish to pay money will not have to, but ensuring a store link for that particular content accompanies the piece in an otherwise free-distribution format
This could work really well, so long as sharing gratis and libere is still possible, and if artists using this can provide direct access to the specific item in an international store.
-- "Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability." --Dijkstra
All of you who are asking how they will stop redistribution of the unlocked content are missing the point entirely. [Many] unauthorized copiers have long been saying that they use bittorrent not because they won't pay, but because it's better. This is an attempt to find out if that is true. The content will wind up on bittorrent networks regardless of how it is distributed, so there is really no drawback. There's no reason why this should fail spectacularly because while this doesn't make it any harder to distribute illicit copies via torrent, it also doesn't actually make it any easier.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
However it doesn't necessarily matter if its cracked, if the distribution method is easy enough and the content cheap enough (this cuts out a lot of palms) then its likely enough people will just pay for it to make a decent profit. After that, who cares about the deadbeats who share it for free? Its all gravy after that anyway.
I think one thing many don't realize, and some like the RIAA base their entire job on not realizing, is what LL Bean seems to have realized with their return policy: trying to stamp out every possible abuse alienates customers. Take a little with a smile and you look better and may come out on top at the end. It makes you look better to other customers.
Put it another way, it may be your right to put whatever restrictions you want in place, and you may be able to run a store where nothing is stolen and no merchandise returned unfairly, but if achieving that drives away customers and gives you a reputation as a pain in the ass that nobody wants to deal with, its not really good business practice is it?
In short, they don't have to stop abuse, they just need to make profit. If they can delay the abuse a bit and make it easy enough that people with money opt to pay for it.... then it hardly matters what the crackers do.... they and the people who download their warez were not going to pay up anyway.
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
I consort with artists. I talk with them often. Small fry, who want so desperately to make a living from doing what they love. They fear for their work being lost on the net with no trace back home, and therefore no commissions, and therefore no pay.
I talk to them about Creative Commons. All you need is to submit to advertising and get page views. How many, when anyone can be an artist? Just get a part time job to tide you over. A job to afford making art, that takes so much time away from making art?. It's not as easy a sell as the more famous (and already rich) proponents would have you believe. Artists who are still starting out have to get every penny they can - not out of avarice. Out of necessity.
They're not in a big Studio. They're not funded by organisations. They don't have a paycheck. They operate independantly. Freely. Wihtout agenda. Isn't that the type of art we want to see? Isn't that the type of art we hold up as ideal? Is that not worth paying artists a living for?
I believe artists should be able to monetize the dozens of hours and materials they spend to create a work we can share at the push of a button.
The artists who are my friends: I also feed them the hot meals they still can't afford.
-- "Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability." --Dijkstra
Does this bundle format need their client? Is there an embedded scripting engine? (what about security issues?) Is the content encrypted or just blocked? Does it phone-home to unlock? (on every use?) Do you know the price and terms before downloading it, or only after downloading and trying to use it?
I can't find anything on the technology at bittorrent.com or bittorrent.org, either with Google or browsing. I guess this is just another closed-source extension pretending to be "bit-torrent" so they can claim 170 million users.
tomorrow who's gonna fuss
Alternately (and more likely), people simply won't bother with these bundles.
In other words, expect to see something like this for all these "bundles" on your favorite torrent site:
HOT TORRENTZ* FOR MADONNA'S NEWEST SONG!!!!
Comment 1: Hey, this is just a demo and it asks for money after 1 minute. Anyone know where I can download the full song?
Comment 2: yeah, go to http://www.piratestuff.com/torrent1234.html**
File size: 12MB Total downloads: 1 Seeds: 37*** Leechers: 0
Meanwhile, the usual torrent of the MP3 or AVI files without the bundled DRM will have thousands of downloads. Why should people waste their time downloading these bundles and then looking for a crack when it's available elsewhere without the hassle?
* purposeful use of "z" to make it seem cool and illegal, just like a real pirated song!
** not a real link so don't even bother
*** seeders are all the copyright owners wondering why nobody is downloading
Well, the details are sparse. Being that it's bettorrent what we know is that there will be two versions of the content, the secure payload, and the superior ripped version without DRM which is freely available from ThePirateBay.