About file sharing and online piracy.
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Hello,
A few months ago, my wife and I started wondering about a new kind of sharing system that could end online piracy. Which is very good if you have no money, but it also damages the industry quite a lot - if you've tried going to a movie lately you know what I mean.
Anyway, the idea is to make a software, torrent like, sharing system and it would reward those who share such files, but it also would cut a percentage for the owner/manufacturer of that particular file. For instance, if someone is downloading The Lord of the Rings from this sharing system, let's say it would send 10 SIA for those sharing it directly, it would also send 10%, 20% for the studio's wallet. For this to work, anytime a file is shared a small amount goes to the owner of that file, which wouldn't make much of a difference for those sharing it, but it would pay the royalties for the studios and companies. And it doesn't have to stop with movies and series, but it should also be extended to music downloads and stuff.
Regarding how this SIAs go to the "owner" account, it could be done with pre-made wallets that would require those sharing to enter whom that file belongs to and so on. These addresses and keys would be sent to the companies and voilà, no more trouble with rights infringements, fear of lawsuit and stuff.
If this idea doesn't work at all, the owners could start sharing their own files, earning all they could by sharing top quality files.
I know our idea probably needs a lot of improvement, but once I read SIA's plan, there was no doubt that this technology is the right fit for it.
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Would you expect the Sia protocol to implement such a billing back-end, or is this better delegated to 3rd party services? For instances, as an idea, Sia could be modified to allow the generation of N-time share codes of uploaded files. Then, the studio/distributor can implement billing the way they want, e.g. in fiat with credit cards etc etc. For instance, a studio could generate a 1000-time distribution code to a distributor, which would allow that distributor to download the file 1000 times (e.g. to their customers' devices). This 1000-time download code could even be subdivided, e.g. into one-time download codes and those codes sold to end-users.
Bottom line is that with support of some clever (and secure) distribution of download codes/tokens within the Sia protocol, you could support a wide range of distribution scenarios inside of the Sia protocol itself (e.g. between makes and distributors, distributors and users etc). Other features, such as billing for these, could still be arranged outside of the protocol.
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Thank you for replying.
Well, the initial idea was to develop something a bit closer to BitTorrent's sharing philosophy model, which is that anyone can share and download files. If you include in this system a reward that would pay for the network, hardware, and proprietary cost, it gets this model from good to perfection.
I believe the point is to create a system that rewards the maker and distributor of those files without making it too expensive for the user.
So let's say, when a high profile movie comes out, some people always
share it through BitTorrent, correct? Is it morally wrong? Sure, but they
do it anyway. Is it a crime, piracy? Of course, but it doesn't matter once there isn't a way to stop them.
Therefore, if these people should see an opportunity of being rewarded for sharing such file, they would jump at the chance of doing so. And if the maker or proprietary owner of that movie, music or whatever, is also rewarded for it, then at least it is better than nothing, which is what they are getting now.
Anyway, answering your initial question, I believe Sia can implement both ways, but if you keep everything anonymous and decentralized you can deal with piracy better than creating another Netflix-like service.One question, is there a way to create tokens every time a file is downloaded? If so, these tokens could serve as currency to pay makers and distributors without too much cost and trouble. If this token would be traded like a crypto, there you go. In this instance, you would have the first crypto minted from file sharing. That would be crazy!
By the way, I probably sounded quite confused, so please tell me your thoughts. Thanks again.