[Released!!!] Navi-X for Boxee!!!

[coffee-turtle]

Don't be shy folks... I could use some opinions and feedback on my proposal. It's all of 4 pages and to me it's the perfect solution people can live with. Check it out and tell me your thoughts please.

By the way, this is not something I plan on doing to / for Navi-X... so our lovely little app won't change... no need to be scared now.

www.tinyurl.com/howtoendpiracy

iRoNBiLL

I am in full agreement with you on page 3 and paragraph 1. Very good idea! The old Hulu has a model like that and I never really minded the adverts. They seem to be even shorter than what was on TV and gave you a bit of an option on choosing ads that were more in line with what you were interested in.

It seems to me that the advert model you suggest is a win for everyone all around. We get to view what we want when we want with no worries about piracy and the content owner gets a piece of the advert pie.

Let me just also add, I love Navi-X!

Thank you.

[lartomar2002]

iRoNBiLL, What a great idea. I would jump on this in a heart beat.

[iRoNBiLL]

Glad to hear you like the idea fellas! Now if I can get a project manager at Google or Microsoft to consider it, maybe it will go somewhere.

iRoNBiLL

[thepitcher]

I could use some opinions and feedback on my proposal...Check it out and tell me your thoughts please.

www.tinyurl.com/howtoendpiracy

Here are some random thoughts about video piracy and solutions:

1. Content creators know they can't stop piracy. Most just want to prevent it from becoming mainstream. (Although those like Rupert Murdoch do get outraged.)
2. Internet based content solutions will continue to be a small percentage of tv comedy/drama viewing until someone makes an interface as simple as tv now.
3. For internet viewing to go mainstream, we will need channels as well as on-demand content due to on-demand being too much work for many people. (Called the paradox of choice.)
4. Content creators earn far more money from distributors like cable companies than is currently available from internet viewing. And, distributors have vested interests in the current system. Change is inevitable, but many will fight it.
5. Part of the way that content creators maximize revenue is through artificial scarcity in each distribution medium. For example, hotels and airlines pay a premium to get movies before you can see them on premium cable. Again, vested interests beyond the content creators want to maintain this system.
6. Leo Laporte at the TWiT network agrees with much of your proposed approach. He gives all of content away for free and he does 'live reads' of ads so that they are very difficult to edit out. He has also created a 24-7 channel as well as on-demand.
7. Advertising alone cannot replace the revenue made under the current system thanks to the huge amounts we pay to cable/satellite companies.

None of this is meant as criticism of your idea. As I said, change is inevitable. I am all for any system that makes the transition easier.

Cheers, Bill.

[iRoNBiLL]

Here are some random thoughts about video piracy and solutions:

1. Content creators know they can't stop piracy. Most just want to prevent it from becoming mainstream. (Although those like Rupert Murdoch do get outraged.)
2. Internet based content solutions will continue to be a small percentage of tv comedy/drama viewing until someone makes an interface as simple as tv now.
3. For internet viewing to go mainstream, we will need channels as well as on-demand content due to on-demand being too much work for many people. (Called the paradox of choice.)
4. Content creators earn far more money from distributors like cable companies than is currently available from internet viewing. And, distributors have vested interests in the current system. Change is inevitable, but many will fight it.
5. Part of the way that content creators maximize revenue is through artificial scarcity in each distribution medium. For example, hotels and airlines pay a premium to get movies before you can see them on premium cable. Again, vested interests beyond the content creators want to maintain this system.
6. Leo Laporte at the TWiT network agrees with much of your proposed approach. He gives all of content away for free and he does 'live reads' of ads so that they are very difficult to edit out. He has also created a 24-7 channel as well as on-demand.
7. Advertising alone cannot replace the revenue made under the current system thanks to the huge amounts we pay to cable/satellite companies.

None of this is meant as criticism of your idea. As I said, change is inevitable. I am all for any system that makes the transition easier.

Cheers, Bill.

Thanks for the feedback Pitcher! I only see your comments as supplemental to everything I said as well as a very realistic approach to the issue at hand.

Let me see if I can elaborate a little on how I am seeing this work out. I will try to respond to your points below.:

1. I think piracy is becoming more and more of a concern for content providers. It's one thing to know it, it's another thing to be constantly reminded of it day to day and how it's bankrupting their bottom line... I think artists, producers and alike really feel hate for this dynamic so much, they would be willing to consider alternative options.

What better option than a digital distribution platform that can compete with sales generated by an ala carte platform like iTunes or Amazon?? If you have seen the news lately, they haven't been getting good press... there are many improvements that could be made in a platform like this, including preventing the ability ofthe controlling body of my proposed idea from being able price fix entire markets... this would be strictly a platform where these independent choices can be made by those who control their content and no one else.

There are lots of possibilities to making changes to this robust and open access platform, they are getting more than just another outlet for content distribution... they are getting the opportunity at actually controlling the destiny of their content on their terms, without outside parties getting controlling interests. That may not be so attractive to shows and productions currently owned by big corporations but for the independent artist, this is a HUGE improvement over the current draconian rules of current digital distribution offerings.

And Rupert Murdock is in hot water lately for getting caught distributing ITV's satellite encrypition codes, effectively bankrupting his competition by bootlegging all of their broadcasts illegally... so Rupert's whinning is hypocritical to say the least and criminal to be precise.

2. Well I think the trend has started with internet set top devices don't you?? In a matter of time, I wouldn't be surprised to see cable companies making these boxes as well just to capture revenues from competing markets. As it is, people were plugging in phone lines into their cable boxes at one point for pay-per-view orders... it's only natural that a network cord would replace this eventually in my mind.

3. That is exactly why I said they offer both. This would give them the freedom to queue their own broadcasts, commercials and programming without outside interference. Like when you view NBC's section, I was thinking a muted live broadcast of their timeline would queue and start playing immediately, showing their broadcast for the day on the left side of the screen, while on the right side is all on demand multimedia content so people can pick, choose and browse through their collections... giving people the best of both worlds... a running video queue or the choice to pick and choose.

4. There are no loyalties in business, only the bottom line. In fact, in the U.S., corporations are required by law to only serve the bottomline and the investors directives soley. My goal is to take advantage of this reality.

Content providers actually pay cable companies alot of money to broadcast their content, in exchange for exposure and possibly attracting a large audience, soley for advertising revenues incurred through marketing campaign contributors... which is how they in turn make their money...

They will only gain from having the addition of a feasible platform for content distribution... this is a fact. Providing another outlet or "another flavor" in the same market has always provided that market the benefits of having another product or approach to selling their products has traditionally been a way to re-vamp interest in markets... not to mention this platform would be a great way for content providers to essentially "stick a net out" and collect potentially lost revenues from piracy. What's not to like about this?

5. Artificial scarcity and making money from nothing is going to the wayside, at least in the U.S... mark my words. The viewers are rejecting it more and more and finding ways around it to watch the stuff they want to anyways on their time... typically through piracy channels. When two unstoppable forces get closer and closer together, something is bound to give. I feel that artificial revenue makers of the past will be rejected first in the television and music industries and spread to others in the next 20 years... people want a genuine look and feel that is authentic and the thinly veiled practices of the past will fade away.

6. Leo Laporte rules!!

7. The best part about this digital distribution platform is that it's not JUST advertising revenues... it's intelligent and personalized marketing across a digital distribution platform. It's also a data mining tool crossed with an informantics measurement system that guages audience and viewer reactions and provides tangible feedback about a content providers audience... imagine Neilsen Ratings digitized, on steroids. We would effectively condense the costs of making productions by eliminating redundancy, inefficieny and wasted money by providing an intelligent digital analysis and breakdown of audience profiles and their reactions... in other words, digitized research analysis, trending and tracking of these things in real time... content providers can better read the minds of their audience and create even more engaging content that ever before... all on the back end while users just enjoy their content.

Money spent is money spent... whether these companies spend it with your back end informatics research or their own methods and regiments is up to them and when they find they get better reads and realtime metrics from you without having to do any work... I think this makes the whole platform more attractive and valuable than just the advertising revenues alone... the platform almost creates a vacuum for content providers to make money in.


Let's keep the conversation going folks! Now that Navi-X has SOME stability ( I say that reluctantly... ), let's talk about something new and interesting for a change... how we can end piracy!

iRoNBiLL

[iRoNBiLL]

Please check for updates on our current outage on www.twitter.com/navi_x Thanks for your patience folks!

iRoNBiLL

[ad12]

Hi iRoNBiLL,

does Navi-X on BoxeeBox allows searching for subtitles from web or local disk while streaming a movie from web ?

I found in some posts on this forums that its possible but when i click for options on my boxee box, i only see two options 1- to post on FB,twitter 2- Subtitle and audio settings, i dont see another icon which is displayed when playing local media to select subtitles.

i am running the latest version.

[iRoNBiLL]

Navi-X Remix kind of allows for it. It's in the settings menu, then before you load a video, there are options for pre-loading subtitles from the internet. We don't support it anymore so you can try to get it to work, but no guarantees. No ETA on full subtitle support integration.

iRoNBiLL

[ad12]

Navi-X Remix kind of allows for it. It's in the settings menu, then before you load a video, there are options for pre-loading subtitles from the internet. We don't support it anymore so you can try to get it to work, but no guarantees. No ETA on full subtitle support integration.

iRoNBiLL

Thanks much. It worked perfectly when i tried to watch a movie yesterday. It would be great if it can make it to the official app in future

[iRoNBiLL]

So... I found out finally why I haven't been getting more feedback on my proposal on "How To End Piracy"...

Rob Spectre finally broke it down for me in a few words... "...It seems unrealistic...

Well why didn't somebody just say so???

And then it dawned on me... nobody may actually be interested in ending piracy period.

Yeah... when you examine it pretty closely, it turns out content providers pretty much just don't want to see piracy of their content become a maintstream byproduct. Go figure... you would think they would be more interested in smart ideas but they look at it from a bottom line perspective really... they want to be able to control pricing, structuring of delivery of content and how they deliver the content to consumers mainly.

Typical users just cringe at the idea of "How To End Piracy" because their experience has been that nobody is willing to compromise on pricing or a business model that is willing to subsidize costs of viewing a commercial made product. Users see "ending piracy" in the form of bills that get proposed like SOPA and PIPA, while clearly they are meant to strengthen intellectual property owners rights, these law reform efforts could better be spent on reforming currently existing copyright law for the computer age. It's no wonder why people are turned off to ending piracy... there has been no middle ground for free users and paying users that has been even remotely reasonable.

I think content providers need to look at revenue recovery and subsidization as a "recovery effort" meant to re-coup lost revenues on products where it is clear that law enforcement and intellectual property rights exercising efforts have not been effective, and this is simply another way of re-couping revenues potentialy they would have loss. At 58 billion dollars a year, you would think that the MPAA and RIAA would want to try ANYTHING to re-coup some of that loss... and I believe I have the base plan... but not the end all to piracy.

Please folks... let me know what you think would make the plan more "realistic" so I can try to put it all in one proposal. I don't plan on getting any money for it, but maybe major recording and production industries could learn a thing or two about how to use technology to their advantage and we still get what we want as well. I'm trying to make this really work... no joke!

Please get at me with ideas... I need your thoughts to make this proposal work. Thanks folks!

Regards,

Bill