Today's Buzz:

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Lack Of Mobile DRM To (Generate) 3.5B Euros

Moco.News is reporting a story on Frost and Sullivan's recent dire warning about the lack of mobile DRM -- the article is titled Lack Of Mobile DRM To Cost 3.5B Euros But I'd like to suggest the nutty idea that actually the REVERSE is true. The question is really about WHO will be making money and WHO will be "losing" revenue.

The core of the issue is about the cellular operators who would like to apply a tax to every content elements that slips across their networks. While F&S poses this as a problem for the entertainment industry itself, I would suggest that mobile phones are more important as an opportunity for viral marketing than they are as the sole end consumption device for digital content. Moco.news writes:
Combined, F&S thinks these activities will cost the mobile entertainment industry around 2.7 billion euros this year. Another 800 million euros “is missed due to the lack of widespread interoperability for content across PCs, mobiles and MP3 players”.
But what if the entertainment industry allowed content to be easily spread (for free without DRM) from mobile device to mobile device? What if consumers could easily share video and music content thus creating demand for purchases of these products for other kinds of devices?

Sure, you don't want the highest quality MP3 or video product circulating for free (oops, that cat is already out of the bag) but consumers don't want HDTV versions of videos on their cell phones -- they only need a small, low-res version. That is all they can play anyway with that screen size. And a low-sample rate version of a song allows more songs to fit on the phone. And a ringtone made from a song simply PROMOTES the song.

Of course, if the entertainment industry allowed people to make their own ring tones for free, share low-sample rate music for free, share low-res video for free... the cellular operators would be back to being a DUMB PIPE. But don't they make a lot of money on that bandwidth?

Note to F&S -- please calculate how the entertainment industry might use viral marketing of freely available (lower quality) digital content to generate sales of high quality versions of the content for other devices as well as generating more fan adherence to entertainment properties which result in additional sales of secondary products. And does all of this generate more revenue for the entertainment industry than they would have gained by locking up their content?

UPDATE - TechDirt weighs in, similarly calling the F&S report "ridiculous..."


posted by Ted Shelton at 9:44 AM

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

The news, what the pundits said, and selections from bloggers...

A complete roundup of news and current events on VoIP, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, mobile telephony and computing, and advanced IP applications.

Syndication via FeedBurner



IP Inferno is sponsored by:
Lok Technology, Inc.

VoIP Magazine Home Page

IP Inferno is written by:
Dan Brekke
Ted Shelton
Sean Wolfe

Press inquiries: press@ipinferno.com

Previous Posts

  • Comparative broadband ideas
  • Vonage gets squeezed from above-Verizon- and below...
  • CA Government Works
  • Support the Markey Network Neutrality Amendment
  • Oakland Muni WiFi Initiative
  • Let New Orleans build a wireless network without o...
  • Google declines to rule out wireless airwave bid
  • Guide for cities considering municipal wireless (u...
  • Letter to Congress
  • Comment and Spread the Word on Post-Disaster Commu...

Powered by Blogger

Where We Find the News

Sources are in the order referenced, most recent listed first
SF Gate
Broadcasting & Cable
Andy Abramson
NetworkingPipeline
The Register
Computerworld
Wireless Unleashed
Jeff Pulver
eWeek
CNet News.com
Internet News
TheStreet.com
NewsFactor
Om Malik
Wi-Fi Planet
Reuters
Brian Kane
Greg Galitzine
Wi-Fi Networking News
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
TMC Net
SF Gate
UPI
Paul Victor Novarese
William Hungerfold
Baltimore Sun
CRM Buyer
Seattle Times
Dan Gillmor
Glenn Fleishman
Dana Blankenhorn
David Isenberg

Other sources
Doc Searls
Ted Shelton
All Headline News
Technorati
North American Bandwidth News

 

Afterink Publishing Network
* * * IP Inferno * * *