Thank you Mike for taking on this stuff, and applying your level-headed and intelligent resources to the task!
The generic lingering issue I see is the monetization piece. If VCs continue to invest in online video sites, then somebody thinks there is good money to be made, aside from Google Ads. How that money (which is presumably related in some way to pageviews/popularity) gets distributed, is of interest to me. Was there any discussion about this piece of the puzzle? Did you talk with them about blip's policy of splitting ad revenues and if so, what were there positions? Do you think that policy helps you attract a certain quality of content that can be monetized more easily with advertisers? I see essentially four types of video content: - MSM re-purposed for internet delivery (see iTunes) - original content by the likes of us on this list - business-originated content for a b2b and b2c purpose - mostly short clips by hobbyists, kids, etc just for fun now and then Do you all (hosting sites/aggregators) talk about it in those ways and how to deal with and/or leverage each of us accordingly? I want us indies to get a piece of the pie we are helping bake. To create sustainable businesses, originality, popularity, and page views need to convert to dollars and I am interested in developing that conversation further. Related to this is whether they are changing their TOS or not. As Rupert mentioned, having opt-out as the default is a way of giving the authority to the producer rather than the aggregator. If few people opted in, due to an out-of-balance TOS or tacky site or whatever, it might incentivize the aggregators to move their business models in our direction so we can more effectively help each other succeed. ALoha and mahalo nui Mike for your good will and tireless attention. Rox On 1/26/07, Lan Bui <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > > Wow, thanks for all the hard work and time you have spent on this. I > think it is great. > > -Lan > www.LanBui.com > -------------------- > > > On Jan 25, 2007, at 1:29 PM, Mike Hudack wrote: > > Hey guys, > > I just wanted to give everyone an update on where we stand with MyHeavy > and Magnify, since I've met with the CEOs both companies in the last > three days. Both of the meetings were for the same purpose -- they took > place because people on this list complained about the way the companies > were aggregating their videos. The meeting agenda was simple: to work > with these companies to allow them to meet their business goals without > infringing on the copy or other rights of original content creators. > > Both meetings went well. MyHeavy removed aggregated video content from > its site immediately after we spoke on the phone. This was an easy > thing for them to do, since for them aggregation is a feature of a > larger business. In the case of Magnify it's much more difficult to do > this because their entire business is based on aggregation. > > MyHeavy is planning to bring aggregation back, but to do so in a way > that conforms with the best practices that have been (I believe) largely > agreed upon and endorsed by this group. Specifically, they will not > include advertising in the playback experience without express > permission from original content creators; they will not watermark the > video; they will give credit by prominently noting the original source > of the video in the form of a link to the original content creator's Web > site; and they will allow content creators to control aggregation > through support for the MediaRSS restriction standard (whch will be > controllable through a MyHeavy aggregation control panel in the blip.tv > Dashboard). > > Magnify continues to aggregate blip.tv video to their destination sites, > and they are currently including Google AdSense advertisements on pages > that include video players from other sources, including blip.tv. We > are currently working with Magnify's CEO to determine how best to > address this issue, since Magnify's entire business model is based on > the ability to monetize aggregators through advertising. Either way, > Magnify has agreed to support the MediaRSS restriction standard in the > same way as MyHeavy and others. You will be able to control aggregation > to Magnify through a control panel in the blip.tv Dashboard. Because of > Magnify's current position on advertising we are considering the > possibility of making the default position for Magnify "opt-out" rather > than opt-in (unlike providers who adhere closely to all points of the > best practices). Content creators who are okay with player-adjacent > AdSense advertisements because they want the extra traffic that Magnify > may generate will easily be able to opt in. > > Please let me know if these are acceptable outcomes for you, and we'll > proceed with implementation with both companies. > > ------- > Mike Hudack > CEO, blip.tv > > Office: 917-546-6989 > AIM: mikehudack > > Read the blip.tv blog: http://blog.blip.tv/ > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > -- Roxanne Darling "o ke kai" means "of the sea" in hawaiian 808-384-5554 http://www.beachwalks.tv http://www.barefeetshop.com http://www.barefeetstudios.com http://www.inthetransition.com
