Jaman launched at Demo 2007 this year. Jaman is a system that allows users access to online film content for specific period of time. The trick of delivery and controlling online film is straight forward. This process of brokering and controlling digital content is not a new one. TailWind launched at Demo 2004. Same technology--different market (enterprise versus consumer) and different branding (traditional enterprise class software vs social network).
Consumer:
If I pay for access to a movie and my Internet access goes out am I screwed?
Well, no, you are allowed to download it to your machine so you have it whether you are offline or online.
Filmmaker:
You mean one person can pay to watch my film for a week and they can download it and share it with everyone else in the world? No one else would ever pay!
No. That is not the case. The download is on the user's machine but the download is encrypted and obfuscated so that the user cannot copy the raw files. In addition the encrypted files are encoded in such a way that they will only play back in Jaman or TailWind's player. Not only that but the player is so tightly wound around your movie that when the user's subscription has expired the movie is sizzled from memory: even if the PC is disconnected from the Internet.
Consumer:
You mean I can't copy the film to CD nor upload it to YouTube?
Correct. However you can share the movie with other people who have the proper permissions. In TailWind's system, if one user has downloaded the encrypted movie from a server in NYC to his machine in Brazil and his neighbor in Brazil has also subscribed to that movie...his neighbor can get it from him rather than from NYC. Again this is so long as the nieghbor is part of the TailWind network.
Also, in the TailWind system we can distribute CDs and USB devices that hold the movie but can only be played by users who have permsission from the TailWind network to playback that content/movie. The USB device is otherwise useless to anyone else.
Filmmaker:
Okay...so what you are telling me is that I can give my film to, let say, Krist Jake's Ocean Film Festival in San Francisco, and they will play it in their theaters and charge 10 bucks to the audience memebers. AND they will make it available for download from their web site? And they will charge for the access--say 10 bucks. And they will end access to my film when the film festival is over. They will end access to my film even if it has been downloaded and even if that computer is no longer connected to the Internet.
Yes. Correct, yes, yes, and yes. Exactly. The keys are the nature of the "policy" associated with the original download of the movie. The player enforces the subscription duration whether or not the computer is connected or not.
I should also add that, at least in a TailWind network, TailWind tracks how many times your movie was played on that user's machine. And for how long each time. In this way you know all the niggly details about how long they watch at each sitting. What parts they repeat. And so forth.
Consumer:
So Jaman and TailWind do the same thing?
No. TailWind's technology is actually a far more secure system, with more deeply developed tiers of tracking data and policy setting and vertical enterprise applications. Jaman has clearly cornered a niche where social networks of filmgoers crossect with online/offline viewing of films at film festivals. Clearly the Jaman consumer approach has groomed their use model to be user freindly and pleasing to the eye and they have integrated features that highlight human to human interaction in combination with their film delivery. I think of it like watching a movie in Webex.
Filmmaker:
So should I trust Jaman?
I don't see why not. I mean no system is perfect and if someone wants to set up a video recorder to record the screen as the movie plays back there is nothing you can do about that. In fact--how many pirated movies happen exactly that way in a movie theater? Quite a few. Of course doing so in the comfort of your own home and then downloading it to your iPod is one helluva alot easier than trying to set up a video camera in a public theater.
Also, most iFilm ain't got to worry about being pirated. Most indie films are just trying to get more people than their wife and mother to even sit through their project. At a slightly higher level, the films of the San Francisco International probably do need some level of security...most of these filmakers classify as independent but if they are in SFIFF they are probably "famous" by most indie filmmakers standards.
I wish Jaman the best of luck...I deeply understand their space and wish them well.
And TailWind? Will TailWind ever field a consumer-based model? Hard to say...depends on if we think we can make money at it. If we don't see money in it...we'll stick to the enterprise. Hoorah.
[For folks deeply interested in the technology behind the distribution of online film: from Revver, to YouTube, to CustomFlix and so forth do check out the CinemaTech blog: http://cinematech.blogspot.com/ & specifically, http://www.scottkirsner.com/webvid/gettingpaid.htm. Scott Kirsner has done alot of good work in this arena. I met Scott at the IIFF held San Francisco Townhall Meeting, (February 2007), Thursday, Feb 15, 2007. Scott is a repeat presenter there..and he was pretty much the only speaker of value at the event. The rest was fluff.]
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