MediaFuturist: August 2009

UK government: disconnect those that share, return to Total Control asap?

Bizarrely, the UK government, led by Lord Mandelson, the UK Business Secretary, seems to have done a 180-shift in the past 2 weeks by once again proposing to disconnect alleged file-sharers from the Internet. In other words: if the content industry can't get people to buy music or films, or other so-called content, by offering relevant, fair and affordable new ways to do so, maybe the government can help to force people back into buying the old-fashioned way, i.e. by the unit / copy? Rather than actually change the industry's business model, let's just change the consumers' habits - problem solved!

If you want to be puzzled, just read the UK government's announcement (PDF via Arstechnica). The Net is buzzing with news on this topic; see below. The FT has a good recent update called 'Claws & Effect' here; wherein I read (with little surprise): "Senior music industry figures, such as Lucian Grainge, head of Universal Music International, have been influential in mobilising Westminster to act". Lobbyists succeed again?

The bottom line can be summarized like this: "Let's just see if we can still force people to consume music in the way that suits us better". Never mind that the very similar French Sarkozy-'Bruni' proposal was just recently deemed illegal by the French Constitutional Law as well as by the European commission - maybe some good lobbyists can revert that, as well?

Here are a few quotes I have collected on this topic:

Those who like this idea

"John Kennedy, chief executive of IFPI, the organisation representing the recording industry worldwide, says: “It is not enshrined in any law anywhere that one has the right to steal music, films and books. There is a crisis in the economy, and as well as respecting rights we have to think about the economy and jobs” (FT) Related read: John Kennedy at RSA

“We welcome the government’s recognition that this problem needs to be addressed urgently, so today is a step forward that should help the legal digital market to grow for consumers,” the BPI, the music industry trade body, said. “The solution to the piracy problem must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive” (FT)

Those who don't like this idea

"Charles Dunstone, chief executive of Carphone Warehouse, one of the UK’s biggest providers, says: “We are going to fight [being forced to disconnect customers] as hard as we can. Our fundamental duty is to protect the rights of our subscribers” (FT)

"A Virgin Media spokesperson said: “We share the government’s commitment to addressing the piracy problem and recognise that new laws have an important role to play in this. But persuasion not coercion is the key to changing consumer behaviour as a heavy-handed, punitive regime will simply alienate mainstream consumers. The government should be ensuring a balance of action against repeat infringers and the rapid development of new legitimate services that provide a compelling alternative to illegal file-sharing" (FT)

"Internet provider TalkTalk said it would "strongly resist" government attempts to oblige Internet service providers to act as Internet police. TalkTalk said disconnecting alleged offenders "will be futile given that it is relatively easy for determined filesharers to mask their identity or their activity to avoid detection" (HuffPo)

One of my favorite quotes, via Labour MP Tom Watson: “Challenged by the revolutionary distribution mechanism that is the internet, big publishers with their expensive marketing and PR operations and big physical distribution networks, are seeing their power and profits diminish. Faced with the choice of accepting this and innovating, or attempting, King Canute-style, to stay the tide of change, they’re choosing the latter option, and looking to Parliament for help with some legislative sand bags” (FT)

Some important facts and other related snippets (quotes from various sources):

Proposed EU telecommunications legislation includes a clause stating that internet access is a fundamental human right (FT)
In Ireland, internet companies UPC and BT Ireland have refused to comply with music companies’ requests to cut off suspected pirates (FT)
The Sunday Times claims that Lord Mandelson, the business secretary, has been persuaded that pirates should be deprived of internet access altogether after dining with “Hollywood mogul” David Geffen *via FT (no surprise here, either;)
Petition (38degrees)
OpenRightsGroup Statement
UK Pirate Party comment.

I have been saying this since 1999: the solution to illegal filesharing is to legalize the way that people share content online, to create new, public, compulsory licenses for content, starting with music (yes, just like the Radio / Broadcasting license), to create fair and flexible licensing standards, and to reduce control in favor of compensation.

The UK's trend towards increased criminalization is just plain old wrong, technologically absurd and utter fantasy, culturally 500% retro, and socially unjustifiable. Techdirt's Mike Masnick sums it up nicely: "You may kick people off the internet, but does anyone honestly think that will actually get people to buy again?"

Here are some of my many contributions on this topic:

Compensation not Control: Video, PDF on slideshare
Music Like Water (essays)
My comment on Paul McGuinness's version of the Internet (Midem 2008)

Once I am back from Japan I will comment further. In the meantime... please comment or retweet using the tools below.

Posted by Gerd Leonhard at 8:20 AM in 21st Century Content Ecology, Broadband Culture, Control Fights, Current Affairs, Digital Music, DRM, Economic Egoism, End of Control, Eoc: Music Industry, EoC: Telecom, Future of Media, ISPs, Music Flat Rate, Music Like Water, P2P, Politics of Content, Telecom2.0, Trends, Walled Garden Stuff | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

The Future of Business in a connected world (my presentation at ACCJ Tokyo)

Nice gig a the American C hamber of Commerce in Tokyo today - lots of very interesting people, and good conversations. Here is the event description: "Social media and online communities are becoming powerful CRM-like tools that almost all major brands and companies are employing. Marketing, PR and advertising is switching from Push to Pull, the 'people formerly known as consumers' are becoming users, friends & followers or even participants & producers, and Internet content is finally arriving on billions of mobile devices...."

As promised, here is the PDF (15MB) with the presentation: Future of Business in a connected world Gerd Leonhard at ACCJ Public

Posted by Gerd Leonhard at 4:54 PM in 21st Century Content Ecology, Attention Economy, Future of Business, MY PRESENTATIONS | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The Future of Digital Content - Free vs Paid? My presentation at Tokyo 2.0 August 24 2009

Today, I spoke at Tokyo 2.0, on the subject of The Future of Digital Content - Free vs Paid (Content 2.0). Because this is one of my main topics I have a lot more stuff available on this; please visit my Free Content page to download many more pdfs, videos and books.

From the event description: The Internet is forcing the content industries (music, film, publishing, news, TV, print etc) around the globe into reboot mode as far as their traditional business models and monetization strategies are concerned. Always-on, hyper-networked, location-aware, ever faster and smarter yet more affordable mobile devices are further escalating the urgent need for the creation of a new content logic; a new ecosystem that involves device makers and CE companies, ISPs, mobile operators and telecoms, search engines and Internet portals, content creators and media companies, as well as brands and advertisers. New players are emerging from these sectors, and few paradigms will remain untouched.

Who will get paid for what, why and how?
How will content be 'sold' online?
What about bundles, flat rates and subscriptions?
Where does advertising and mobile commerce come in?

Download the PDF (16MB, Creative Commons License):

Tokyo20 Free Vs Paid Content 20 Gerd Public

Content 2.0: Free vs Paid: Futurist Gerd Leonhard @ Tokyo 2.0

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Posted by Gerd Leonhard at 9:55 PM in 21st Century Content Ecology, Asia, Attention Economy, Broadband Culture, Content 2.0, Copyright, Future of Business, Future of Media, MY PRESENTATIONS, Open Is King, Print & Newspapers, Sharism | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Please join me September 9 in London: Free Canvas8 event on emerging technologies

Organized by Canvas8 "The Changing Face of Media will be on Wednesday September 9 at Host Gallery, Shoreditch, alongside Tim Hetherington's remarkable photography exhibition Liberia Retold. Guest speakers will discuss their experiences with emerging technology and will look at how brands can best use technology and not be used by it. Format: Really straightforward - 3 x 20 minute talks with 15-minute refreshment breaks in between. Doors open at 6.30pm, with speakers to start at 7.00pm sharp. The venue is quite intimate and the tickets are strictly limited so if you can't make it please let us know by email or twitter @canvas8

Confirmed speakers

Gerd Leonhard - With over 25 years in the media, technology and communications industries as an author, writer, entrepreneur, strategic advisor, keynote speaker and presenter, Canvas8 Thought Leader, Gerd has a unique perspective. He was described by The Wall Street Journal as 'one of the leading Media Futurists in the world'. An authority on topics ranging from user generation of content, the attention economy, the 'wisdom of the masses', content syndication, business and revenue models for content producers, copyright issues in the internet economy and what mass media becoming personal media actually means for all concerned. Gerd is the co-author of the oft-quoted must-read for music industry professionals bestseller The Future of Music published in 2005, as well as the author of Music 2.0 published in January 2008. Canvas8 recently spoke to Media Thought Leader Gerd Leonhard about the music bookmark where access replaces ownership, industry-regulated music streaming licences, the long-term viability of Spotify and a recent report suggesting a decline in teens’ illegal filesharing. Click here to read the full interview.

David Bausola - As one of the leading specialists in collaborative social media David is deeply passionate about audience engagement. A veteran of first-to-market communication inventions he is the co-founder of Ag8 - an independent studio developing currency for content makers, media platforms and brands.

Ag8’s main product is Purefold - an open media franchise designed for RSA Films, the commercial arm of film directors Ridley and Tony Scott. David is no stranger to digital communications. He was the pitch strategist for Riot and an integral part of the team that won the global digital account for Adidas. Whilst at Imagination he was the creator of the social media sitcom, ‘Where are the Joneses?’ for Ford Motor Company. And prior to that David managed and delivered the multi-award winning, online user-generated, video documentary website ‘four docs’ for Channel4.

About Long Story Bit by Bit - Liberia Retold by Tim Hetherington

Tim Hetherington’s exploration of Liberia between 2003 and 2007 brings an extraordinary range of characters to life: warlords and presidents, environmental activists and traditional hunters, political hustlers and democratic visionaries. During the time he spent in the country, Hetherington became fascinated with the dynamics of power, from the raw power wielded by the young men of rebel groups, to the corrupt power of the transitional government, to the possibilities of a democratically elected president.

Free sign-up here

http://www.eventbrite.com/event/412941118

Canvas8 discuss emerging technology with Gerd Leonhard - Eventbrite via kwout

Posted by Gerd Leonhard at 4:18 AM in 21st Century Content Ecology, Events, Future of Media, Marketing2.0, Me, Meet me @, My speaking engagements | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Music 2.0 - the time is Now. My presentation on the Future of Music, AMBC 2009 in Sydney

Further to my previous post about the AMBC conference in Sydney, here is the PDF with my presentation on Music 2.0 - The Time is Now. Enjoy! Read more about

Music Like Water, watch some videos on this topic, or get the PDF with the free Music 2.0 book and more slideshows, here. Download the PDF: Download Music 2.0 The Time is Now Gerd Leonhard at AMBC Sydney

Music 2.0 - The Time is NOW (Gerd Leonhard at AMBC 2009 in Sydney

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Posted by Gerd Leonhard at 12:01 PM in 21st Century Content Ecology, Broadband Culture, Content 2.0, Copyright, Creative Commons, Digital Music, Eoc: Music Industry, Events, Free!, Future of Media, Future of Music, Music Flat Rate, Music Like Water, Music2.0 Book, MY PRESENTATIONS, Twitter | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

AMBC Music Conference: Kevin Burmeister and the new Altnet / Kazaa - back to the stone ages of digital content? Deep packet inspection? DRM? R u Serious?

Welcome to Content 0.0? I am in beautiful Sydney Australia for a keynote speech at AMBC, the Austral-Asian Music Business Conference; for a keynote on Music 2.0 and the Digital Music License tomorrow (August 21, 2009). AMBC is a great event and I am very happy to be here, but for the past 30 minutes we were subjected to one of the most bizarre, desperate and - sorry to be so frank - ...mad schemes of how to turn digital content into money on the Internet - and of all people, by one of the original Kazaa guys, Skype investor, and CEO of Altnet and Brilliant Entertainment, Kevin Ber meister. I have recorded some of his speech on my iPhone voice-memo recorder, and may make it available later, but here is, in a nutshell, what Kevin and his company, Altnet, seem to propose (and be sure to read their recent press release on the relaunch of Kazaa):

Put a Cisco 'Copyrouter' into the network of each ISP, everywhere
Have the Copyrouter (ouch... that word alone gives me the chills) look at all traffic that is based on or runs on certain P2P protocols, and define what's being shared via the unique hashtags that each file represents. Deep packet inspection... go!!!
Block all traffic with hashtags that have been flagged as 'unauthorized' (i.e.... all?), and replace them with files that are DRM'ed (yes... really) and that can be downloaded only if you allow a charge to be levied by your ISP.

I won't even attempt to delineate what I think is wrong with concept because there are so many issues that they would fill this blog for the next 30 days. But the mere fact that this kind of scheme is being presented in a keynote at a leading music industry conference is, frankly, making me feel quite hopeless on the future of digital music. But maybe I am wrong... you tell me (comment box below)

Anyway, first, Kevin seems to want all our traffic to be deep-packet inspected (i.e. monitored) so that a automatic determination of it being lawful or not-lawful can be made. That, in itself, is a bizarre and utterly unfeasible concept has already been rejected by the European Commission and almost all governments around the world (except for France), because it only points in one direction, and that is towards CHINA's version of the Internet. Police-states, Censorship and severe lack of freedom of expression and speech. Are you serious, Kevin? Is this what you want so that the major labels and studios can keep or shall I see regain total control over distribution of content rather than to license it to everyone, and share in revenues (as is, strangely enough, happening with Google and the record labels in China!)? I hope not.

Second, Kevin seems to want to have the illegal files (again.... that means all files, really) be automatically replaced with copy-protected files (did you think those were retired, too...?) that must be purchased by the user, via the ISP.

In other words, let's just re-insert Total Control back into the system, and force every Internet single user to a) pay whatever the price is (without having any say on that) b) use ONLY approved devices that can play back the DRM'ed content. If that's future of digital content... count me out (along with 98% of the online population I would say). Put that Content under the rock again!

This scheme is too painful even to just contemplate; I mean it's so far out that it hurts... so, over to you guys, for comments, please.

My final thought: this reminds me a lot of the recent Onion video ('Google Opt-out Village') that makes fun of how you can regain 100% of your privacy on Google. Watch it and make the connection;). More on this, soon. Update: Read GigaOm's take.

Posted by Gerd Leonhard at 7:14 AM in 21st Century Content Ecology, Content 2.0, Control Fights, Copyright, Crucial Stuff, Current Affairs, Digital Music, DRM, Economic Egoism, End of Control, The Bizarre | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack (0)

Will people for online news?

Nice interview via ZDNet Australia i.e. Twisted Wire and Phil Dobbie, with some voice-bites from me, as well;).

"Back in May, Rupert Murdoch said News Limited would start charging users for access to sections of its online news content. Is it a business model that will work, when web users have got used to getting the news for free? In this edition of Twisted Wire we look into the user-pays model. We might pay for content if it satisfies our specialist interests, but are the major news publishers geared up to provide such a wealth of content.."

Contributors:

Jack Matthews, CEO of Fairfax Digital
Peter Cox, principal of Cox media
Gerd Leonhard, futurist in the media, technology and communication industries

Posted by Gerd Leonhard at 5:35 AM in 21st Century Content Ecology, Advertising Trends, Attention Economy, Broadband Culture, Content 2.0, Control Fights, Future of Journalism, Gerd in the media, Openness Issues, Print & Newspapers, The Cloud, Trends | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Creating value with Content: The Future of Marketing and Advertising (my Sydney presentation)

I was invited to present at the InsightExchange event in Sydney, Australia, yesterday, on the topic of Content 2.0 and the Future of Marketing & Advertising. Other speakers included fellow Futurist Ross Dawson and Craig Davis, Chief Creative Officer of Publicis / Mojo.

From the event description: "Futurist Gerd Leonhard will talk about the key trends and developments from around the globe, depict the most likely scenarios in the next 3-5 years, and describe opportunities that will arise from the global change to a networked and fully converged ecosystem of Content & Media, Marketing and Advertising"

Some high-lights:

We are only beginning to understand the huge shift from disconnected to connected 'consumers'
Connected people act / consume / behave / communicate VERY differently
Mobile broadband-powered content sharing is going to reset the content industries
The disruption has only just begun
Captive consumers are rapidly vanishing
Advertising and marketing as we knew it is no longer going to work
Advertising IS CONTENT

Here are the slides I presented (and a few extra ones that I did not actually get to); you can download the 26MB PDF via slideshare, below, or via this link. All content is made available under the Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution license, except for 3rd party images as inidicated.

Creating value with Content: the Future Of Marketing & Advertising, by Gerd Leonhard Sydney 8-18-2009

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Posted by Gerd Leonhard at 1:30 AM in 21st Century Content Ecology, Advertising Trends, Attention Economy, Branding, Broadband Culture, Consumer Insights, Content 2.0, Events, Future of Business, Future of Media, Future of PR & Communications, Marketing2.0, MY PRESENTATIONS, Sharism, Social Media, Trends | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Mobile broadband is set to explode - so what happens to Content Creators (90 sec video)

Mobile broadband penetration is making vast strides, around the world. Smart phones and connected devices are getting cheaper by the minute. LTE (long-term-evolution, a next generation mobile telecomunication technology) will offer mobile data connectivity at vastly increased speeds, and at very competitive prices. Jointly with a company called O2B Networks, Google is launching 16 satellites to bring low-cost or free mobile broadband to Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

So if and when we actually have 2 Billion+ people connected to mobile broadband, in 2012 (see the forecast in the video, below), what will happen to all the Content these users will consume or shall we say... share... remix...forward...adapt? How will content creators generate revenues from this enormous, interconnected and hungry, always-on audience?

In my view, the only plausible answer is to equate network access with content access, i.e. to bundle them together - once you connect, much of the content usage is included. Revenues are derived in many different ways, including next-generation (!) advertising, bundles, sponsored access, flat-rates, freemium etc. This video briefly explains why this is needed.

If would like to know more, please check out these resources:

Broadband Culture and the Future of Broadcasting (video)

Future of Mobile Content (presentation)

Mobile Content Futures (narrated slideshow)

Compensation not Control (video of keynote speech at Midem 2009)

Why Spotify will fail without a public digital music license (blog post)

Posted by Gerd Leonhard at 7:19 AM in 21st Century Content Ecology, Apple, Bottom Lines, Broadband Culture, Content 2.0, Cool Tools, Current Affairs, Future of Media, My videos, Trends, VIDEO BLOG | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

A new TeleMedia Ecosystem: Telcos will move up the food chain, and into content

Image by gleonhard via Flickr

Posted by Gerd Leonhard at 3:27 AM in Bottom Lines | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Hilarious Onion video: want to protect your privacy? Move to Google's opt-out village!

Have you every wondered how you could really protect your data online? Here is what one of my favorite online comedy sites, The Onion, has to say on this subject: "just move to Google's opt-out village". Really funny ****! Found via Techcrunch

Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Village

Posted by Gerd Leonhard at 6:58 PM in 21st Century Content Ecology, Broadband Culture, Google, Privacy, Trends, Videos I Like | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

The Future of News and the value of Curation (Short video interview with me)

Robin Good is one of Italy's most prolific bloggers and digital media experts. We met in Rome a few weeks ago, after I did a speaking gig for Siemens Media division, and he recorded this video, below. You can read the entire column (featuring 2 other influencers) on Robin's site; but here is the bottom line:

"I think curation is key in aggregating people's voices, because most people have to go through 500 feeds of some sort of news event, and that would take them hours to go through the feeds and pick the right ones. A professional reporter can search the right feeds in five minutes, because they have the skills to select photos and those kinds of things; which is very valuable, but not if you put those feeds under a wrapper..."

Posted by Gerd Leonhard at 5:29 PM in About Me, Bottom Lines, Broadband Culture, News, UGC, Video, VIDEO BLOG | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

18 posts from August 2009

August 31, 2009

UK government: disconnect those that share, return to Total Control asap?

August 26, 2009

The Future of Business in a connected world (my presentation at ACCJ Tokyo)

August 24, 2009

The Future of Digital Content - Free vs Paid? My presentation at Tokyo 2.0 August 24 2009

August 23, 2009

Please join me September 9 in London: Free Canvas8 event on emerging technologies

August 21, 2009

Music 2.0 - the time is Now. My presentation on the Future of Music, AMBC 2009 in Sydney

August 20, 2009

AMBC Music Conference: Kevin Burmeister and the new Altnet / Kazaa - back to the stone ages of digital content? Deep packet inspection? DRM? R u Serious?

Will people for online news?

August 19, 2009

Creating value with Content: The Future of Marketing and Advertising (my Sydney presentation)

August 17, 2009

Mobile broadband is set to explode - so what happens to Content Creators (90 sec video)

A new TeleMedia Ecosystem: Telcos will move up the food chain, and into content

August 13, 2009

Hilarious Onion video: want to protect your privacy? Move to Google's opt-out village!

The Future of News and the value of Curation (Short video interview with me)

August 10, 2009

Nice Fora.tv video: Newspapers are dead - now what?

Some of my favorite images (short animoto video)

Imagination is more important than knowledge (says Einstein)

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