Techdirt. Stories filed under "rewards"

Cool Ideas: The World's First Flattrable Conference

Mike Masnick — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 04:19:20 PDT

We've been using Flattr on the site for a little over a year now, and I'm planning to do a writeup about our experiences with the service shortly. If you weren't aware of it, Flattr is a very neat, extremely simple, way of monetarily supporting content that you like. As I noted in my initial writeup of the service, Flattr is very clever in how it gets rid of the traditional "transaction costs" problem of most micropayments system, in that each month you just have a set amount that you've already agreed to spend, and each Flattr merely divides up that pie by one more slice.

It's been interesting to see the service evolve -- especially watching as it went from closed beta to open so that anyone can use it. If you haven't yet signed up, you should at least check it out. But one of the more interesting things in how it has evolved are the unexpected ways in which the service can be used. Take, for example, a fantastic looking conference taking place in Sweden later this month, put on by Media Evolution, called The Conference (which I had wanted to attend, but was unable to make). The conference organizers have set it up so that pretty much everything at the conference is "Flattrable." Like a speaker? Flattr him/her. Like an entire session? You can Flattr it through the app or directly via QR codes around the event. See someone ask a smart question? Ask to see their badge, and you can Flattr them directly.

As far as I know, this is the first time this has been done like this and, as with any experiment, you never know for sure how it will work out, but I think it's a pretty cool experiment and I hope that it goes well. I look forward to finding out from the organizers some of what they learn from the experiment.

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Blink-182 Rewards Fans Who Uploaded Unauthorized Clips On YouTube

Mike Masnick — Thu, 4 Aug 2011 12:05:00 PDT

Nearly two years ago, we wrote about an interview with Tom Delonge from the band Blink-182, in which his views on the music industry seemed very closely aligned to exactly what we've been saying for years:

The one thing I've learned is that, like any other type of art, it evolves. So if you're a business that supports a type of art, you need to evolve with the art. Now, a lot of things have happened that have made creating art a lot easier with the computer. And it's also made the distribution of art a lot easier.... What I have chosen to believe is that if you look at your band with a modern filter, your band has so much potential to have all these different elements about it. You can create all this really cool merchandise and concert/live experiences. You can create a really cool portal on your website. You can mix all these elements together and I always believe that if the tools are available, you can monetize all these other elements, and not really worry about selling the record. In fact, I believe that, you should take down every barrier and put as much music out there for free...

In my mind, the way the music industry is changing is that music is easier to make and it's easier to give away for free. And that will enable the band and the music and the art and everything to be bigger than it's ever been. It's just how do you collect that and how do you build your business...

So it comes as little surprise to find out that the band has decided to do something cool with fans who "infringe." As a whole bunch of you have been sending in, the band created "the film festival you didn't know you entered," in which they (with the help of AT&T who appears to be sponsoring the band) collected a bunch of unauthorized YouTube clips and put them together in a montage to launch their first new single in eight years: The key is in the opening text: AT&T helped us search YouTube for every instance of fans using our music without our permission.

And then we rewarded them for it.

Thanks for being a fan. Always nice to see yet another band who recognizes the importance of connecting with fans rather than treating them like criminals.

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Vodo Sets Up Currency To Encourage More Promotion

Mike Masnick — Mon, 4 Oct 2010 15:21:46 PDT

In the debate over business models that embrace file sharing networks, one of the more interesting projects to watch has been Vodo, which is a platform for filmmakers who wish to release their works via file sharing setups, and to enjoy a promotional boost for doing so. Movies released via Vodo have done quite well, both in getting attention and in getting monetary support. The company has now updated its system and has added an interesting element: an internal currency, called "Do," to encourage people to promote the works.

That is, if you point people to a download -- you can earn some "Do" every time someone visits an artist's website or downloads the work or even agrees to give money to a content creator. This could be interesting to watch, though I do wonder how well it will work. On the positive side, as we were just discussing in our Dark Helmet case study, one of the most important things in getting modern business models to work is to get your biggest fans to help promote you. However, at the same time, we've also warned about the risks of artificial incentives to promote some content, you run the risk of people questioning the motives for the promotion. If Vodo can balance this, it could be quite nice, but that balance is very much an open question. I agree that it's important to make people comfortable promoting you, but I worry that creating such incentives leaves it very much open to gaming, rather than legitimate advocacy.

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Instead Of Bad Drivers, What If Speed Cameras 'Caught' Good Drivers Instead?

Dennis Yang — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 18:34:00 PDT

We've written at length here about the multitude of problems with speed cameras. What if, instead of focusing on punishing speeders, the speed cameras were used to reward good behavior? Drivers who obey the speed limit are automatically entered into a lottery and then notified by mail if they've won. So, you might pick up your mail one day with a letter from local law enforcement and a check for good driving behavior, rather than a fine for bad driving behavior. This is somewhat reminiscent of the idea from a few years ago where police would pull over good drivers and "reward" them with free coffee coupons -- but avoids the whole "pull over" part, which certainly upset some drivers.

The idea is that the jackpot could come from the fines that were paid from speeders -- so not only do you get rewarded, you get rewarded from the pockets of worse drivers. This method may also serve to make a speeding ticket feel even more painful than just a fine alone. After all, a $500 ticket definitely stings, but a $500 ticket PLUS a little note that had you not been speeding, you could have won $10,000 instead? Ouch, that hurts a lot more.

The idea was the winning entry to VW's "The Fun Theory" competition, where applicants were tasked to design ways to change people's behavior through fun. This is a brilliantly viral campaign that showcases the fact that advertising is content, and if you make engaging content, people will beat a path to your door to watch it. The "piano stairs" entry alone has amassed over 12 million views.

Of course, rewarding good drivers with cash awards does not help governments rake in quite as much in revenue, but speed cameras are supposed to be about safety and not money, right?

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Amazon Patents Recognizing Top Reviewers

Mike Masnick — Fri, 3 Oct 2008 08:35:25 PDT

theodp writes "Seems there really isn't anything you can't patent these days. It took seven-and-a-half years, but the USPTO awarded patent reformer Amazon.com a patent Tuesday for its invention of Creating an Incentive to Author Useful Item Reviews, aka Top Reviewers, a program that rewards those who have written as many as 17,308 free reviews with a free virtual 'badge'."

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SIIA's Bogus Bounty For Turning In Software Counterfeiters: Read The Fine Print

Mike Masnick — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 08:35:00 PST

We've already talked about the BSA's misleading program to get people to turn in their employers for using unauthorized copies of software. Now, sister organization, SIIA, has introduced its own silly program. Reader Jon writes in to let us know that the SIIA is supposedly offering $500 to anyone who "turns in" someone who sold them counterfeit software online. While the SIIA says it hopes that the recipient of the $500 uses it to buy legitimate copies of the software, they don't have to. At first glance, this program looks like it creates a system that gives people incentives to buy counterfeit software. After all, why not buy the counterfeit software, collect the reward and pocket it, while keeping the software? However, if you read the fine print, you'll realize that the program is quite limited. It's not really $500. It's "up to" $500, apparently at the SIIA's sole discretion. And... it's only open to the first 100 people who qualify. And... they'll get to use your name in press releases and force you to post feedback on eBay about how the seller sold you counterfeit software. And... it doesn't appear that you get any amnesty for having the software, meaning you could eventually be liable yourself for using counterfeit software (though, you have to give up the software to the SIIA, but if you installed it first...). Then, there's the best part. If the SIIA winds up in a court case with whoever you turn it, you may be required to testify -- and (wait for it...) the SIIA may reimburse your expenses, but if they do, those expenses will be reduced by the amount the SIIA paid as a reward. In other words, the "reward" simply becomes a prepayment on just some of the expenses you incur to testify on the SIIA's behalf. How nice of them.

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