Mr I Forrester <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> We recently convinced some of the key people from the DRM debate, to sit > around a table . We then recorded the results and have now made it > available under the creative commons attribution licence for you all to > use and remix to your hearts content. > > Its BBC backstage's first, so I'm expecting you guys will tell us > exactly what you think. > > http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/news/archives/2007/02/bbc_backstage_p_1.html > > Enjoy.... Sheesh... that's a pretty good round table. The thing that most leapt out at me was James Cridland's point about DRM: if you don't have anything to protect content then what's to stop people copying it between themselves. Dave's answer to this is the answer I always give: people will go to the authoritative source first, and be happy to pay 10p or 30p or £1 or whatever because they're paying for the service: the quality of the download, the ease of navigation around the website, etc... But we're not really talking about people doing rsync between their machines vs downloading from a website. We're talking about whether another company can come along as a direct competitor to you and set up another website, just ripping off your content, but charging 2p less. As long as their website is better than yours they should get all your business. This is a tricky question to answer. In free software we answer it with value add. We say: sure - you could sell this software what I wrote for less money than I do. But actually, I'm not selling the software I'm selling a service around it: support and assistance, maybe consultancy. People are prepared to pay for that from me, and not you, because I wrote the software, so there's a chance I know more about it than you. This doesn't exist in music or visual arts. And we can see why: can you imagine asking Morrissey to change a line in a song if you pay him? Or Paul Simon? Hey Paul? If I pay you £200 could you sing me a copy where it's "Fridge over troubled water?" David Bowie answered this question a while ago by suggesting that musicians will have to play live to earn their keep. This seems to be similar to the consultancy business model. Finding a benefactor seems like another reasonable way to go. But listening to the podcast does suggest this to me: either we're going to get some kind of DRM or rights holders are going to be a less rich overall. -- Nic Ferrier http://www.tapsellferrier.co.uk for all your tapsell ferrier needs - Sent via the backstage.bbc.co.uk discussion group. To unsubscribe, please visit http://backstage.bbc.co.uk/archives/2005/01/mailing_list.html. Unofficial list archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/backstage@lists.bbc.co.uk/
