Digital Download security to prevent file-sharing?

[Scott Carnegie]

I also with you luck in this, I would like you to report success, because I honestly don’t see it. People HATE DRM, even Apple got rid of it in iTunes. For niche sports training videos… there is sooo much free stuff out there that making it harder for people to access your content by havin to have to pay for streaming video of it seems like a losing game.

Paid streaming video has it’s place, live events. But training videos? I don’t know. I could be wrong.

http://www.MediaCircus.TV
Media Production Services
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

[Scott Carnegie]

But if you are going to choose option 1 2 or 3, definitely don’t do the DVD hard copy. Waste of resources, your cost goes up, and who buys sports training DVD’s anymore? Have it available on-line so they can have instant access after paying for their key or subscription.

There are a few sites that you can aleady do this with, people pay for the content.

https://www.viddler.com/

http://www.MediaCircus.TV
Media Production Services
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

[Seth Blaustein]

I’m not going to use DRM. I just wanted to post the information that I found out there in case future readers stumble upon this post with a similar question. It’s expensive and a bad choice for exactly the reasons laid out. I never had real interest in doing it–like I said, I want to research what is out there so I can make an informed decision. I’m actually pretty to close to being on the same page as Mark, generally. I am not going to fret about letting sharing happen, but I don’t want to make it so easy that it is the only way my content is obtained.

The way I will be streaming will be almost the same as a digital download. The customer purchases the video and has unlimited access to watch it as much as they want, forever. The difference is only that they need an internet connection to view the content. My target audience is always on the internet (young/male/lacrosse player).

Your statement about hard copy DVD’s is general and uninformed in terms of my market.

I will be doing hard copy DVD’s as well because that is primarily how these types of videos are purchased–in Lacrosse stores. Parents buy these up like crazy from stores around Christmas. The costs of producing these DVD’s is incredibly cheap and DVDs can be created per-purchase. Ever heard of Kunaki? Only adds minor costs that are covered with each sale and only creates another venue for purchase.

Crappy how-to videos will always be free on YouTube, quality will always be worth paying for.

[Bill Davis]

[Seth Blaustein] “Crappy how-to videos will always be free on YouTube, quality will always be worth paying for.”

Well, you seem to be convinced that your thinking in all of this is correct and some very experienced other opinions are wrong about it.

It’s probably a lost cause, but because I’m an optimist I’ll add my 2 cents.

You’re arguing for a restrictive model for content distribution. I believe that in this era, that’s doomed to failure. Today, the critical game isn’t content restriction, it’s audience building and reputation management.

If you’re unwilling to understand that. There’s not much we can do to help you.

So good luck.

“Before speaking out ask yourself whether your words are true, whether they are respectful and whether they are needed in our civil discussions.”-Justice O’Connor

[Seth Blaustein]

I don’t understand where all of these assumptions you are making are coming from. First of all, I am grateful for all the advice here. Does that mean I need to agree?

What makes you think I am ignoring ‘audience building and reputation management’? What makes you think I’m unwilling to understand it, given that it has not even been mentioned here and is an entirely other question (which I didn’t ask).

I ask a simple question pertaining to media security and I get a flood of preachy tangents that don’t answer my question in any way.

Yikes.

Thank you to Eric and Mads for actually directly attempting to answer my question.

I appreciate all of the opinions of experienced professionals, but please don’t be so quick to assume that I don’t have any knowledge in the topics you are diverting towards, which I have not asked you about.

Take care all, and thanks for the advice.

[Walter Biscardi]

Any of those three options allow for sharing via websites. When the Creative Cow was selling my “Stop Staring, Start Grading with Apple Color” DVD it popped up on piracy sites within a few weeks. Know what happened? Not much. I still earned a good deal of money as the piracy sites didn’t hurt anything.

I would not waste time with DVDs any longer.

Offer the digital download so people don’t need an internet connection to view your work, or a combination streaming / download. You say it’s a sports how-to series so my guess is people will want these videos on smart phones and / or tablets so they can have them wherever they practice. I do this with golf training videos watching the videos at the driving range or in my backyard with my practice net. Waiting for that to stream would be annoying in low bandwidth / high traffic areas.

One thought, develop a mailing list for all the registered folks. They receive an email blast notifying them of your new titles 2 weeks before you launch it publicly on your site. It’s in a reserved area or cannot be seen unless you enter the code that was in the email. That gives them a value added reason to register / subscribe.

Piracy and sharing will happen. But if it’s a good product, reasonably priced, you’ll still earn your money. If anything, the free sharing will expose your product to a larger audience than those who just pay. That will lead to some people signing up to stay with the upcoming lessons.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author, Chef.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media

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[Alan Lloyd]

Really, the only protection where someone is paying for something is in the CEU (Continuing Education Unit) world, where the credit is the “dongle” needed. Anyone can watch, only those who have paid get the necessary professional continuing education credits.