Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

'SingularDTV' Will Use Ethereum For DRM On A Sci-Fi TV Show (rocknerd.co.uk)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the money-of-the-future dept.

It's "an epic sci-fi adventure about the human race's journey into a theoretical technological Singularity." Or is it an "entertainment industry boondoggle...part DRM snake oil marketing, part pseudo-Bitcoin scam and part sincere Singularitarian weirdness?" Long-term Slashdot reader David Gerard writes: SingularDTV is an exciting new blockchain-based entertainment industry startup. Their plan is to adapt the DRM that made $121.54 for Imogen Heap, make their own completely pre-mined altcoin and use that to somehow sell two million views of a sci-fi TV show about the Singularity. Using CODE, which is explicitly modeled on The DAO ... which spectacularly imploded days after its launch. There's a white paper [PDF], but here's an analysis of why these schemes are a terrible idea for musicians.
'Singular' will be a one-hour adventure/drama "that explores the impact technology will have on the future of our planet and how it will shape the evolution of our human race," set in the years 2021 to 2045, "as an unprecedented technological revolution sweeps over the world..."

78 comments

  1. Is this an AI post? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Could not make any connection out of two readings of it.

    1. Re:Is this an AI post? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That was my first thought too -- someone's Chat Bot tried to make a Slashdot summary.

  2. Is it free? by NEDHead · · Score: 1

    Like , whatever...?

    1. Re:Is it free? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It will be free after the first sale results in piracy. Like a popular song says, they'll probably only sell one.

    2. Re:Is it free? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I watch it when it's available on P1ra76ay.

    3. Re: Is it free? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd like to buy a vowel. A 3!

  3. Investment scam? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This buzzword salad has to be some sort of investment scam. There's no way they can be delusional enough to think this is actually a revenue-maker.

    1. Re:Investment scam? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Where do they expect to find two million blockchain-coin users who want to watch and who are also willing to pay?

    2. Re:Investment scam? by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

      Where do they expect to find two million blockchain-coin users who want to watch and who are also willing to pay?

      I'll wait for the audio book...

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    3. Re:Investment scam? by Yvan256 · · Score: 2

      I only watch audio books written in braille.

    4. Re:Investment scam? by I+kan+Spl · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I would like to raise "buzzword salad" in consideration for the phrase of the day.

      --
      My UID is prime and so is this number: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0.
    5. Re:Investment scam? by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I only watch audio books written in braille.

      3D!
      Nice...

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  4. I have low expectations from Slashdot editors, but by AuMatar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    this really manages to fall below them. Was there anything in that summary that was supposed to make sense?

    --
    I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
  5. enthusiastically predominate next-gen mindshare! by jjeffries · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Monotonectally facilitate efficient intellectual capital! Enthusiastically strategize strategic paradigms! Credibly productize leading-edge scenarios!

  6. The heck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Am I reading here?

  7. Re:I have low expectations from Slashdot editors, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Oh good, I was afraid I was the only one who didn't understand a fucking word of the summary.

  8. nead an AI to read that back to me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    dafuq did i just read?
    captcha: discerns

  9. Is there something to understand by Pegasuce · · Score: 1

    Hi!

    My first language is not english but i can't make sense of the post. Someone can explain?

    --
    Salut a toi EX Punk anarchiste devenu nouveau mouton conformiste...
    1. Re:Is there something to understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Native English speaker here. I didn't have a fucking clue what it is supposed to be about either.

    2. Re:Is there something to understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      There's a company with something that's like Bitcoin, except that they mined a whole shitload of it first before releasing it to the public.

      This company plans now to make a television show.

      You can only watch this you purchase it, and you can only purchase it using their Bitcoin clone.

      They have their own proprietary DRM that they think will prevent anyone from pirating this show.

      This scheme (their DRM paired with their Bitcoin clone) has already been attempted by this company; it was previously used to sell a single from musician Imogen Heap. In that case, it made a whole $121.

      It appears as though this is some type of scam, but it's not exactly clear how it's supposed to pay off for them. I speculate that they're going to throw the whole idea at investors and try to nab someone stupid enough to be blinded by the buzzwords, but I don't know.

    3. Re:Is there something to understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      I went with +1 insightful, because there was no +1 god damn magical Turing like decoding power

    4. Re:Is there something to understand by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

      It appears as though this is some type of scam, but it's not exactly clear how it's supposed to pay off for them.

      See, there's the problem...scams are supposed to be easily accessible and sound plausible to the end user, I mean, "mark".

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    5. Re:Is there something to understand by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2

      My first language is not english but

      I would have thought that would be an advantage.

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    6. Re:Is there something to understand by David+Gerard · · Score: 1

      Original article author here: you have summarized the whole thing better than I did.

      --
      http://rocknerd.co.uk
    7. Re:Is there something to understand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, the best part is you can get the Imogen Heap song for literally nothing.

    8. Re:Is there something to understand by radarskiy · · Score: 1

      "It appears as though this is some type of scam, but it's not exactly clear how it's supposed to pay off for them."

      The true mark is the one that thinks they are in on the con.

    9. Re:Is there something to understand by hackwrench · · Score: 1

      What I understood was you buy one piece of their digital currency. This serves as a DRM token. Whenever you want to watch the show you resubmit the record of owning the digital currency piece/DRM token and they will stream it to you. There may be the added process of creating a new record in the transaction database every time a token is resubmitted and a new number representing the new transaction returned to the user. That would make sense to me. Or maybe there is a rental model, and the currency is added back into their wallet when the rental is requested. Or something like all of that.

    10. Re:Is there something to understand by 742Evergreen · · Score: 2

      If you can only watch it by using their new coin, they probably want to build up a user-base. This will hopefully raise the price of the coin, making their pre-mined coins a lot more valuable.

  10. WTF do editors actually do here ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If this "news" has been edited, I'd hate to have seen it before it was edited. I've read datasheets in Chinglish that make more fucking sense than this.

    I thought things were supposed to get better when ./ changed hands, I was wrong.

  11. Re:I have low expectations from Slashdot editors, by ichthus · · Score: 2

    I read it 1.5 times and gave up.

    --
    sig: sauer
  12. Wat by Calydor · · Score: 1

    See title. 'Nuff said.

    --
    -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
  13. I'll wait... by ArcadeNut · · Score: 1

    Until they release it on Betamax...

    --
    Visit the Arcade Restoration Workshop @ http://www.arcaderestoration.com
  14. All I can say is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm getting a boner

  15. I think I understand it? by a_nonamiss · · Score: 2

    I think I've arrived at a human translation: Some company wants to raise money to make a Sci-Fi show that can only be purchased via some BitCoin knockoff. However, this same distribution mechanism has failed spectacularly for musicians in the past.

    --
    -Arthur
    Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules
    1. Re:I think I understand it? by Calydor · · Score: 1

      To perform the same actions and expect different results is ... par for the course, I guess.

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    2. Re:I think I understand it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You forget the part about the spaceship to Mars that imploded days after Elon launched it, but otherwise your summary is probably as close to reality as we will ever get.

    3. Re:I think I understand it? by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 2

      Some company wants to raise money to make a Sci-Fi show that can only be purchased via some BitCoin knockoff.

      What are we supposed to buy the bitcoin knockoffs with...ears of corn?

      If it's money, why not just use....money? Or would that not be buzz-wordy enough?

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    4. Re:I think I understand it? by RandomFactor · · Score: 1

      That was my take also.

      Unless they put out something like Axanar, they simply won't overcome the barriers to entry for the audience inherent in this approach for more than a negligible few.

      --
      --- Mercutio was right.
    5. Re:I think I understand it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's Ethereum. You buy it at an exchange like Coinbase or Kraken. They're trying to get people to use their currency to make it a standard medium of exchange. It worked swimmingly for the DAO until it got hacked. The DAO raised $150 million worth of Ethereum (ETH).

    6. Re:I think I understand it? by bheerssen · · Score: 1

      Money is the best buzz word. It's the buzziest of words. They should just use that.

      --
      (Score: -1, Stupid)
  16. No thank you by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

    "Their plan is to adapt the DRM that made $121.54 for Imogen Heap, make their own completely pre-mined altcoin and use that to somehow sell two million views of a sci-fi TV show about the Singularity."

    How about "no"? Does "no" work for you?

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    1. Re:No thank you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. No works for me. Or should that be No , yes it works for me. Shit. I'm confused. Just like the article I guess. Although I predict it is pointless, much like all of this.

    2. Re:No thank you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      OMG $121.54? That's an unheard-of amount of money. If the sci fi show makes even a fraction of that they'll be able to buy sandwiches for like ten people!

    3. Re:No thank you by Archfeld · · Score: 2

      You've obviously never worked in Craft services. That kind of money won't even buy the mustard to cut for 10 sandwiches :).

      --
      errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
  17. Re:I have low expectations from Slashdot editors, by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Oh good, I was afraid I was the only one who didn't understand a fucking word of the summary.

    I recognized some of the words, but the meaning escapes me.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  18. Re:enthusiastically predominate next-gen mindshare by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 3, Informative

    ^^^^^^^ Yeah, what jjeffries said.

    And don't forget to leverage existing core-competencies for exigent customer-facing scenarios.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  19. How low Slashdot has fallen... by Knightman · · Score: 1

    ...that they post reverse-get-rich-quick scams.

    It's like a bad hi-tech variant on those spam messages touting obscure stocks.

    "A fool and his money are soon parted" comes to mind.

    --
    --- Reality doesn't care about your opinions, it happens anyway and if you are in the way you'll get squished.
  20. Lol, here we go....... by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

    "The DAO was a digital decentralized autonomous organization and a form of investor-directed venture capital fund.

    The DAO was crowdfunded via a token sale in May 2016. It set the record for the largest crowdfunding campaign in history.

    In June 2016, hackers exploited a vulnerability in the DAO code to enable them to siphon off one third of The DAO's funds to a subsidiary account."

    Wow, what an awesome track record of security, lol. Thanks, but I'll pass.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  21. Hey, EditorDavid... by BenJeremy · · Score: 3, Funny

    microdoses of LSD... it's supposed to be MICRODOSES help you focus and be more creative. Taking several regular doses might make the day go by easier, but it won't help you write comprehensible shopping lists, let alone article summaries.

  22. Sounds like unmitigated bullshit by gweihir · · Score: 1

    I am not even sure that it is possible to determine what they actually want to do that is worthwhile under all the buzzword-camouflage. I am sure however that they will find enough idiots to give them money for it.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  23. Re:enthusiastically predominate next-gen mindshare by mindwhip · · Score: 1

    Wouldn't it be better to leverage covalent technologies unifying synergies and distributing positive flow to resolve market wide confluence reversing neutron flux?

    --
    [The Universe] has gone offline.
  24. wake me up by meglon · · Score: 1

    when it comes out on betamax

    --
    Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
  25. Huh. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apparently as long as you're a "long-time slashdot reader" you can self-promote anything you want.

  26. I read the linked articles by rsilvergun · · Score: 2

    it's just using blockchains for distributed DRM so they don't have to rely on the Record Industry's stores. Probably mostly so when the files show up on a torrent tracker they know who uploaded them. There's lots of stuff in there about eliminating parasitic record contracts but they kinda ignore the whole part where the record companies pay the bills while your tour ( albeit on credit and and horrendous interest rates, but try getting a loan from a bank to go tour with your band sometime ). Record companies also get your stuff on the radio and get you into venues. Blockchain and tech don't do anything about that.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  27. Re:I have low expectations from Slashdot editors, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I recognized most of the words in the summary, just not in the order they were placed in.

  28. Re:I have low expectations from Slashdot editors, by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    Maybe you just have aphasia? Or maybe the one who wrote that thing has it...

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  29. Re:enthusiastically predominate next-gen mindshare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and apps! don't forget to app the apps!

    mooooooooooooo

  30. Why things make money by 110010001000 · · Score: 2

    Things make money due to marketing. That is the cruel truth. Popular music and TV and movies are popular because of marketing. Most popular movies are pure crap, including all the Marvel movies. But due to marketing people spend billions to see them. So any scheme that doesn't include marketing isn't going to work.

  31. About that singularity... by AJWM · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Pretty much by definition, anything post-Singularity will be incomprehensible to anyone pre-Singularity, so any story actually based post-Singularity will either be faking it or be incomprehensible.

    From the looks of that summary, they've got a pretty good start on the latter....

    --
    -- Alastair
    1. Re:About that singularity... by mrthoughtful · · Score: 2

      Exactly.

      How on earth can anyone produce a TV series about PS, when everything that ties us to our anthropomorphic, biocentric model of the world has been made redundant?

      No individuality, no collective, no mortality, no sense of time (as we understand it), totally incomprehensible ideas of value.

      Twits.

      --
      This comment was written with the intention to opt out of advertising.
    2. Re:About that singularity... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, I really enjoyed Doctorow's Rapture of the Nerds (cc). The setting is post-singularity; it's not impossible at all.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rapture_of_the_Nerds

  32. Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This could be Denuvo in disguise. In fact it wouldn't surprise me at all.

  33. Re: Buying vowels by hackwrench · · Score: 2

    I'm sorry, w6'r6 all out of (sold out)s. Could I int6r6st you in a bar6ly us6d 6?

  34. Re:I have low expectations from Slashdot editors, by hackwrench · · Score: 1

    What I got was that someone was attempting to use digital currency that would be completely insecure, because it was computationally nonintensive enough to be preminable. And I broke spell check's dictionary.

  35. But on the other hand... by Mats+Svensson · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, suspendisse euismod tellus leo nec, mauris neque imperdiet tincidunt volutpat elementum tellus, diam in massa enim et lectus mattis, rhoncus luctus sed eu id lectus. A diam orci dolor odio risus mollit, cras vestibulum sed nulla velit ascetur condimentum, tristique nam ut magna

  36. Re: I have low expectations from Slashdot editors, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    News about a blockchain written like a blockchain then? Here's to hope that some blockchain enthusiast unblocks it to us mere mortals.

  37. Re:I have low expectations from Slashdot editors, by 742Evergreen · · Score: 2

    Or a form of synesthesia. I read the summary and smell bullshit.

  38. Human Readable Summary by r0kk3rz · · Score: 2

    Blockchain-based entertainment industry startup SingularDTV plans to use distributed computation network Ethereum to sell access to a new Sci-Fi television show about the Singularity. The Ethereum Blockchain is known for it's 'Smart Contracts' or distributed programs that can handle transactions of arbitrary tokens between different cryptographically signed accounts. Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum Tokens can be created in any quantity at will for any purpose without the need for computationally expensive mining operations.

    SingularDTV will create their own Ethereum Token backed by a Smart Contract to handle access to their show, this is made possible by the cryptographically signed accounts and public blockchain so you can mathematically prove you control the account which has the access token in it.

    1. Re:Human Readable Summary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Like a password?

  39. Just the idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The idea of a crypto-coin designed around watching things in some way with a DRM system being used for the coin-calculation, would be an interesting idea for a coin.
    I'd be totally behind an idea like that if someone created a good enough system for it that is well-designed, unlike Bitcoin and the disaster it is heading to.
    Sadly, idiots like this shit all over a good idea.

    Of course, the media industry would put pressure against this coin even harder than the banks are with Bitcoin currently.
    Any threat to their business model is met with harsh attacks. They literally have branches of US military helping them now.

  40. Re:I have low expectations from Slashdot editors, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Also, it's the human species. Stop making everything about races.

  41. Re:I have low expectations from Slashdot editors, by internerdj · · Score: 1

    I thought that was in there but I was also getting something about a TV show I think. It was like two or three summaries hit head on at highway speed.

  42. Re:enthusiastically predominate next-gen mindshare by MTEK · · Score: 1

    Preach it, my MBA brother... AMEN!

  43. Tech already solved some of those problems by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Tech does work for getting into venues. It's called the "telephone" and there's a newer one called "email."

    As for getting on the radio, tech "solved" (this is half bullshit and half perfect truth) that problem by making radio less important. Lots of people now can initially hear your band in other ways (thanks to tech) than just radio.

  44. Re:enthusiastically predominate next-gen mindshare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Monotonectally facilitate efficient intellectual capital! Enthusiastically strategize strategic paradigms! Credibly productize leading-edge scenarios!

    No. This is totally new and different paradigm.

  45. The singularity called... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... And it doesn't have room for mutable shitcoins and DRM. Both of these things are promoted by corporate pricks who just want to slap technology on their broken old economy. We don't want their centralized ledger and we don't want their imaginary property, yet they think they can predict the future we're building. Call us back when you crowdfund a Creative Commons version using Ethereum Classic.

  46. Singularity University at its best by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This has to be the brain child of the cult at Singularity University in Moffett Field, CA. It is their annual Summer Class time.

  47. Singularity Sky, perhaps? by thoughtlover · · Score: 1

    "as an unprecedented technological revolution sweeps over the world..."

    I'm wagering ($0) it's something like this book.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    Charles Stross writes a good book, for sure, but it's a little slow... too slow for how this amazing tech could/should be used, by the general populace) to make it more exciting.

    --
    No sig for you! Come back one year!