An idea that hasn't worked out for content distributors yet is DRM (Digital Rights Management). The premise is generally that the content file (mp3 or video file) is also embedded with information that limits its use to some degree. Last year, Sony was sued for installing a form of subversive DRM on some Audio CDs that secretly installed spyware on a user's computer to track their activities.
Today Adobe, the owner of Macromedia, the company that controls the Flash format, the web-based format that allows a very popular form for displaying video files on a website, announced a new format of their now universal files which will include DRM capabilities. In the true spirit of a Trojan Horse, the new software will allow users of sites like YouTube to download the videos to view offline or on portable devices, HOWEVER can require the viewer to sit through an advertisement to watch the content.
Will this work? Well, as that article notes, hacking Flash files is nothing new. A variety of methods are available for ripping the video files from .swf (flash) files. Naturally, these hacks have been subject to the familiar cat-and-mouse game of "harder to hack" and "hacked."
The question really boils down not to "is this unhackable?" because software is inherently hackable. The question for content providers looking to advertise will be, "are the advertisements unintrusive enough that people won't try to hack them out?"
I think this question can be answered by another. As Google CEO Eric Schmidt stated in his recent interview with WIRED magazine, the advertising model is changing. The traditional advertising method of flooding as much space with your message as possible is no longer effective in an environment where consumers are savvy to avoiding commercials and dislike them. However, with properly targeted advertising, I believe ads will seem less like annoying pestering, and more like helpful suggestions.
So the question left to Adobe is, will the DRM'd .swf files have a set ad, or will the ad be customized for the user upon download? This is the Web 2.0, and if the new .swf file fails to recognize the need for a customized experience, its users will resent the attempts at control and turn to software hacks to download their flash-embedded videos.
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2 comments:
It really is a problem that downloading media on Bittorrent is the most convenient way for many people to get it.
I think the best way to make this work is for the content companies to release their videos for download online (or through Bittorrent), and simply overlay a translucent "advertising bug" in one corner of the screen, where they usually overlay a translucent logo for their network.
I wonder how content producers might deliberately design their captivating content to draw your eye into that corner, if that were the case. Using the .swf DRM model, you could theoretically use your idea to send custom ads to whoever is watching your content. It almost becomes a case of "whoever is being watched when the buying impulse takes over a person's hand gets the commission."
I wonder how this sort during-primary content advertising might change the nature of the content. I imagine it would also lead to more abrupt salesmanship and product placement. Instead of a commercial "break," the content would somewhat become the commercial.
While I'd like to think modern consumers savvy enough to irk off any attempts at this sort of advertising, I have to confess I've seen some very cleverly subtle advertising, and am somewhat adverse to the kind of subversive message sending this model seems to lend itself to.
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