Big update on where we’re at with the VODO project. Hold tight.

Those who have been following the project will know that three key things concern us. One: what’s the best way to distribute media of all kinds in the network age? Two: how can we provide for creators to be remunerated when they’re distributing works online without being evil (where ‘being evil’ = things like DRM, copy-protection, only distributing trailers and selling DVDs, etc.) Three: how can we help these creators gain attention for their works that can rival the kind of attention the mass media can offer. (We achieved this with STEAL THIS FILM and we think it should be possible for others.)

The latest spec of VODO, now nearing completion, addresses all three of these ‘problems’. We have partnered with content producers to be named soon who will supply free, high-quality content that either could not be or for some reason was not distributed through mass media. We have brought together six (count ‘em) major Bittorrent trackers, who have agreed that at a regular time  each month, they will promote one piece of VODO content — be it a book, film, or piece of music — on their prime front-page real estate. (We call this ‘coalition of the willing’ DISCO, the Distribution Coalition ;)). Together, these sites and services reach over 60m eyeballs a day. Because the content we’re offering is good, and free, we’re expecting 1/10 clickthrough rates, so we reckon we can get our creators up to 5m downloads. We select which works are going to be promoted by an open voting system at vodo.net, and a judging panel — 50/50, completely open.

How do we get these folks paid? Well, at its heart, VODO comprises a payment system that uses the SHA1 hashes rooted in Torrent files. Every work that gets registered inthe VODO distribution system by a creator gets its own unique value, and that value is carried with it wherever the work might be distributed. Against that value, we pair the creator’s donation details, which they can update at any time. So anyone implementing the VODO system, on any system, can look up this unique number and get back donation details for the author or creator. Users of the site or service can make a donation right from where they download. (Implementing all this is as easy as ABC for your average P2P admin.)

So, thanks to Bram Cohen, we’d already gone a long way to solving the distribution problem: but by bringing together some of the world’s largest trackers to seed and promote content, we hope to improve matters and help with getting attention to people’s work. That’s problem one and two. We think voluntary donations go a long way to solving the remuneration problem, too. But that doesn’t mean we’ve stopped thinking there. We’ve a couple of tricks under our sleeve for 2009 — and one of them is going to turn the whole idea of ‘donation’ on its head.

Right now we’re at the end of a development cycle that has been kindly supported by BRITDOC Foundation and the Emerald Fund. We’ll be showing this prototype around to our partners during the next few weeks, and looking to go live early in 2009 with the first content to be distributed. We’re pretty excited. Hope you are too.