Currently there are no simple means to monetise long tail editorial content. Inexpensive licensing supported by machine readable licensing, electronic distribution and flexible micropayment may provide opportunities to exploit a potentially vast market. Le piattaforme di pagamento rappresentano un elemento fondamentale per la commercializzazione di contenuti digitali. Purtroppo ad esso viene dedicata poca attenzione ignorando le conseguenze per l'intero ecosistema. E' possibile immaginare un sistema per micro transazioni che sia aperto ed interoperabile? Quale impatto avrebbe sui prodotti e sul mercato?

1. Micro payments for an
ebook marketplace
Leonardo Chiariglione – CEDEO.net
Ebook Lab Italia, Rimini, 2011/03/03

2. Why an ebook
is different from a book?
— An ebook is made of bits and not atoms
— Making an ebook is
— Easy because you can shrink – if you want – the
elements of a value chain to one
— Difficult if you want to harvest the opportunities
offered by the digital form
— Pricing an ebook is
— Easy because it is a new product
— Difficult because there are no rules
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3. It is not the first time
a media type goes digital
— Audio
— Vinyl – Cassette – CD – MP3
— Radio
— AM – FM – DAB et al. – Internet Radio
— Video
— Cassette – DVD – BluRay – DivX – Online services
— TV
— Many analogue formats – Various CAS – Online
services
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4. What about ebooks?
— Books used to have a single analogue format ;-)
— Ebooks come in many distribution formats on top
of widely adopted clear text formats
— Ownership of a distribution format – i.e. the
consumption device – is deemed to be important
— Is this the best way to cater to the development of
an infant industry?
— If the history of media on the internet is any
guide…
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5. The Italian connection…
— The no-profit group “Digital Media in
Italia” (dmin.it) proposes to maximise the profitable
flow of digital media
— Per give Italy to acquire a primary role in the exploitation
of the globale “digital media” phenomenon
— Acting on the offer/access to
— Content
— Broadband networks
— Pay/cash services
— Harmonising the requirements of
— Authors: freedom to offer their works
— Intermediaries: freedom to choose a role
— Consumers: freedom to access content of their choice
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6. Driversof dmin.it proposal
— Standards are great enablers of business
opportunities
— If the role of value chain players is duly remunerated
— Italy is too small a country to allow a competition
of technologies
— Are we really interested in a competition of big
external players on our skin?
— Dmin.it
— Defines a set of basic mandatory technologies
— Leaving operators the freedom to use other
technologies
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7. Key technology #1 – format
— Dmin.it chooses the MPEG-21 format, an ISO/IEC
standard for interoperable management and
protection of digital assets
— Key features of the MP21 format
— Content packaging format
— Content identification
— Content management and protection
— Rights expression language
— Contract expression language
— And many more…
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8. The word from WIPO/1
— In order to effect a change in attitude, I believe that
we need to re-formulate the question that most
people see or hear about copyright and the
Internet. People do not respond to being called
pirates. Indeed, some, as we have seen, even make
a pride of it.
— The history of the confrontation of our classical
copyright world with the digital environment has
been more a sorry tale of Luddite resistance than
an example of intelligent engagement.
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9. The word from WIPO/2
— Future generations are clearly going to regard many
of the works, rights and business agents that we
talk about as cute artefacts of cultural history,
much as the vinyl record has become in a very
short space of time.
Francis Gurry, Director General of WIPO - World
Intellectual Property Organization
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10. Key technology #2 – access
— I won t talk about it this time L
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11. Key technology #3 – pay/
cash
— To do business with digital media we need
— A low entry level and distributed technology
— To enable anybody to perform payment and cashing
operations
— Especially when micro amounts are involved
— We need to implement the following steps
1. Define a set of protocols
2. Standardise the protocols
3. Implement systems based on standard protocols
4. Deploy systems based on standard protocols
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12. Step 1: define a set of
protocols
Negotiation of content
with payment data
Value Chain User 1 Value Chain User 2
(e.g. Seller) Negotiation of ntwk resources (e.g. Buyer)
with payment data
Acct11 Acct21
Payment with units
Acct12
Virtual Account Virtual Account Acct22
Service Provider 1 Service Provider 2
Acct1n Acct2m
Shared
Services
Bank Credit Prepaid Bank Utility Electronic
account card card account bill purse
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13. Step 2: standardise
protocols/1
Create
Licence
SP
Seller
13 Buyer
Repute
User
SP
Seller s
Buyer s
Payment
and
Payment
and
Cashing
SP
Cashing
SP
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14. Step 2: standardise
protocols/2
Negotiate
Licence SP
Nego=a=on
Interface
Create
Licence SP
Owner Participant
(e.g. Seller) (e.g. Buyer)
Payment
and
Cashing
Interface
Seller s Buyer s
Payment & Payment &
Cashing SP Cashing SP

15. Step 3: implement systems
based on standard protocols
Web, IP and Mobile TV (http://
wim.tv/)
Micro payments for an ebook marketplace 2011/03/03

16. The wim.tv ecosystem
Web TV 1
ecosystem
Content
Metadata
Content Expected
$
providers
End users
Syndicators
Agents
Advertisers Web TV 2
engine
&
repository
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17. Step 4: Deploy systems
based on standard
protocols
— The Payment Services Directive (PSD, 2007/64/EC)
— Regulates payment services, providers and users in
Europe
— Provides for the necessary legal framework within
which all payment service providers operate
— Aims at increasing pan-European competition and
participation in the payments industry
— Electronic Money Institutions (EMI) and Payment
Institutions (PI) can provide payment services
— A PI can take the role of VASP
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18. An ebook marketplace
Basic Books or Final End
Elements chapters product users
Micro payments for an ebook marketplace 2011/03/03

19. To know more
http://www.dmin.it /
http://
mpeg.chiariglione.org
http://wim.tv/
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