This is a strategic document I put together to frame the problem of digital piracy, and to propose a behavioral solution-set.

1. “Just because you could, doesn’t mean you should.”
A NEW, IMMERSIVE ANTI-PIRACY INITIATIVE
A PARAMOUNT CO-OP PROJECT
Strategic Document 10.12.2011
CREATIVE LEAD: BILL BRUCE
STRATEGIC LEAD: GUNTHER SONNENFELD
PRODUCTION LEAD: STEFAN SONNENFELD

2. Guess what?

3. You just participated
in digital piracy.

4. This document was
illegally encrypted,
and the software
used to create it was
illegally downloaded.

5. Yeah, it’s that easy. It
can happen to anyone.

6. It’s ok. Keep reading.
Just don’t share this
material with anyone.

7. Does that make
you angry?
It should.

8. SO, WHAT THE F*#% IS DIGITAL PIRACY?

9. In the simplest of terms, piracy is the act of obtaining
materials without the proper rights of legal
ownership. (Such as this photo.)

10. It’s a pretty sophisticated $75B global
business. Just ask these guys.

11. Digital piracy is
bigger than the
drug trade in
many cities
(like Los
Angeles), and is
the biggest
subsidy for
terrorist
activity in those
areas.

12. Unfortunately, for the movie
industry, technology can only do so
much. It boils down to
simple Internet
economics, really.

13. THE BACKSTORY:
Nearly 25% of all global internet traffic is dedicated to digital
theft. The cost of global digital piracy is conservatively
estimated at $75 billion. Faster broadband speeds, greater
storage capacity and an abundance of illegal sites— which
appear on search engines -- accept US credit cards,
complete with advertising to masquerade as legitimate sites.
These sites get over 50 billion visits annually. So it’s entirely
possible some may not even know they are downloading
illegally. Others know exactly what they are doing. For those
who knowingly download illegal content, the psychology is
one of entitlement. They’re not stealing. It’s all free anyway,
or at least it should be. Beyond that, they are viewing
something they wouldn’t go out and buy anyway. Then there’s
the belief that Hollywood is full of objectively rich people
who aren’t going to be hurt if Tom Peterson doesn’t give them
his $15 for the latest Netflick.
“Nearly 25% of all
global Internet traffic
is dedicated to digital
theft. The psychology
is one of entitlement.”

14. The visionaries
have spoken. But
they don’t play in
the spaces where
pirates play.
This is a
social issue.
A cultural
edict.

15. As evidence, not Actually,
much has things have
changed over the gotten a lot
last several worse.
years.

16. ... And law enforcement is only one
part of the solution.

17. The first part of the problem:
We’re not actually
dealing with theft.

18. The second part of the problem:
Sharing has many faces.

20. It
Remember Napster?
redefined the notion of
the “copycat”.

21. It also turned sharing into
personalization. In a big way.

22. the notions of
It also challenged
“legal” & “illegal”.

23. The third part of the problem:
is not nearly
Advocacy
enough.

25. Piracy, downloading and sharing are
and
strongly attitudinal,
ethically-driven.
Source: Emerald Research

27. Caveat:
Digital
citizens or
“netizens”
have
developed
their own
systems
of ethics.
They’ve
had no
choice.

28. “The important thing to
remember is that there’s
no such thing as
copyright that has
remained fixed and
constant over the last 200
years.”
- Lawrence Lessig,
Harvard Law Professor

29. COPYRIGHT
IS AN
ARTIFICIAL
BOUNDARY
BETWEEN
CREATOR
AND
CONSUMER.
[C.K. Prahalad at the 2008 World Economic Forum]

30. To (re)boot, our views of media
change when they go “digital”.
APPLICATIONS
MUSIC CONTENT VIDEO CONTENT
Bent: utilities as community
Bent: songs as social Bent: movies as a shared property
currency story
“Why should I share the
“I only want one song off “I want to explore my own app, when I can’t share the
of the album.” version of the story.” content?”
“I want to show people “I’ve already seen the movie “Am I paying for access for
how cool I am in what I in the theater, so why can’t free stuff, or am I paying
listen to.” I keep a few clips?” for access to buy more
stuff?”
“I don’t really care about “The studios make a ton of
the record companies, I money -- why can’t I share “I’m going to create my
have a right to own my own this content, especially own app and allow my
music library, on my own when I’m promoting it?” friends to access cool stuff
terms.” for free.”

31. Compounding the problem is the fact
that digital literacy - especially
among our youth - is trying to catch
up with the rate of usage.

32. Usage is also
problematic for
the industry in
general
because the
most active
users of
“free” are
those with
the highest
discretionary
incomes.

33. Profile of a digital pirate.
Gunther Sonnenfeld 2011

34. Pirates don’t have real profiles.
They exhibit characteristics
without a distinct social
identity.
The digital
pirate is a
chameleon. A
hacker. An
unknown. His
rationale:
Catch me if
you can.
Our
rationale:
Let’s be a
part of the
chase. And
then make it
our own.

35. Piracy is a self-
organizing
movement.
Arguably, one of
innovation.

36. (HOWEVER) “INNOVATION” CAN MEAN:
HACKING
PARTICIPATORY STORYTELLING
MEME CREATION
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
APP DEVELOPMENT
ENCODING APPROACHES
POLICY CO-CREATION
MOBILITY

37. So, if ideas can’t always be owned...
... Then we’re solving an IP challenge.
With our fan bases.

38. In other words...
We have a chance to remake
digital history.
How cool is that?

39. Key insights:
Piracy is presented as a false
dichotomy between theft & copying;
it’s actually about the desire for
connection, not ownership.
Once people connect, they’re compelled
to co-create, share, mix, or remix. The
remix culture is very real, and very
active.
This culture begs for structure - not so
much of the legal or corporate sort, but
towards social rules. Game dynamics.
Anti-piracy, in and of itself, is an
emerging market .

41. Do what remixers do. Find
something to remix.

42. Cool examples of remixes...

43. Best in class.

44. A remixing phenomenon that Warner Bros. supported to generate fan activity
around the franchise, around the release of “The Dark Knight.”
It became a viral meme that generated 10M downloads, and produced hundreds
of remixes, even across other media franchises. Awareness around the movie and
its licensed properties was unprecedented (even if some of the material was
“lifted”... But you get the point).

46. Lance Weiler’s “Pandemic 1.0”- Sundance 2011
[a phenomenal participatory
storytelling, social experiment]

47. [Tim Kring’s “Conspiracy For Good” - 500K+ downloads, 5K
Best in class. dedicated participants, unlimited spread]
This was a Nokia-
supported initiative that
had people becoming
activists around a
conspiracy to do good.
It was by far the most
successful mobile
“marketing campaign”
ever.

48. In paid media.

49. Key components.
STORY
CONSPIRACY
DISCOVERY
DEADLINES
ELITE MEMBERSHIP
ACCREDITATION
A HIGHER PURPOSE
SOCIAL REWARD

50. The best way to influence thinking and
change future behavior is exactly the same:
to not scold, wag a finger or talk down to
THE POSITIONING: the remix set. Rather, it’s best to sway
educate and connect with a confident
sense of right over wrong and with a bold
sense of humor. But just as importantly, we
“We must offer must offer a solution -- something that will
a solution - inform people where to go and enable them
to do the right thing. To go from being
something that entitled, to being enlightened. It’s not
will inform enough to simply tell people what not to do;
we need to ask them to do something
people where to different. For this, the simplest, most cost-
go and enable effective solution is to create an immersive
them to do the experience. This experience would offer not
only a list of the legal sites to download
right thing. To and stream, but also: engaging answers to
go from being questions, an open forum to exchange
entitled, to thoughts and ideas, interactive games, plus
other shareable content. So the “platform”
being would be cool, fun to navigate and not
enlightened.” seemingly self-serving and dry. It should be
accessible through any device someone
wants to use.

51. GOALS 1. Inform people on what
piracy actually is, or
could be.
2. Introduce them to, and
immerse them in, the
associated behaviors.
3. Change their
attitudes & behaviors
such that they become
anti-piracy advocates...
For the long haul.

52. Think of this ‘platform’ as a grand
social experiment that gives us purview
into user behavior. Ideally, new
audiences will emerge from our
communication touch-points, and those
created through the ‘earning’ of the
media on offer.
Segmentation
opportunities abound:
fan types, niche
communities, captive
audiences, etc.
Money that’s been left
on the table for years
will now be recaptured.

53. Let’s tap into online movements.
Movie aficionados have a decent digital literacy;
they can share, and in some cases, remix content.
MOVIE COMMUNITIES Many them are aspiring filmmakers, so they also
produce a fair amount of original content.
Their opinions have a sweeping network effect - in
fact, most movie reviewers defer to the forums
where these folks are having lengthy exchanges.
Subgroups, or “tribes”, are widely varied but also
very interconnected. Most important, they are all
affected by, or contributing to, pirated activities.
TRIBES:
GENRE
PARANORMAL
PRODUCTION
DESIGN
[source: eCairn Conversation - a unique social media mining tool;
sample set: 400 interconnected influencer groups WRITER
& several hundred thousand conversations]

54. They’re everywhere. And active.
Music users also have a decent digital
literacy; they also can share, and in some
MUSIC COMMUNITIES cases, remix content. The main distinction
here is that they tend to use downloadable
music as a “badge”, a statement of identity.
Their opinions also have a sweeping network
effect - and a direct correlation to potential
sales. That said, the copycat rule applies:
they’re mostly only willing to pay once.
TRIBES:
GENRE
INDY
PRODUCTION
COMPOSERS
THIRD PARTIES

55. They’re ready to play. Gamers, as a whole, are by far the most
digitally literate. They pride themselves
on their knowledge, and are constantly
GAMING COMMUNITIES trying to reinvent ways to hack systems
- consoles, apps, web platforms, etc.
Their opinions also have a sweeping
network effect specifically on the ways
games are conceived and developed.
Most important, they are very influential
in film and music communities.
TRIBES:
SOCIAL
PERVASIVE
ARG/LARP
CONSOLE/ APP
CASUAL

56. When
THE TRIGGERS: designing the
experience,
always ask:
What would a
pirate do?
What would a
victim feel?
Who are the
victims? How
does this
affect
businesses?
Industry?
Society? What
are some of
the gray areas
in between?

57. THE INTENT:
The experience needs to stand for such common sense
that it becomes the outing of irrational, unclear,
unpopular thinking or behavior… across the board. We We help create
help create this zeitgeist. Which means that anytime this zeitgeist.
someone in the world does something worthy of the
phrase: “Just because you could, doesn’t mean you
Which means
should”… We bring light to our cause. This is a that anytime
behavioral imperative. In order for this to become someone does
possible, the platform needs to be worthy of being
adopted and shared. It needs to have utility value - in something
other words, something that can be used with deep worthy of the
cultural, social and commercial impact. Ultimately, the phrase... We
message via the films/spots, needs to be propagated by
many of the same people who are guilty of this bring to light
behavior. Ironically, by sharing the films/spots with our cause. This
friends, they help spread the word. So it’s crucial that
we are engaging and funny. All experiences and
is a behavioral
communications would ultimately drive home this idea imperative.
with one final simple, straight forward thought and call
to action: Internet theft is wrong. See movies the right
way.

58. Hitting the areas where (anti)piracy
affects us most...
PERVASIVE GAMING IMMERSIVE MEDIA SHAREABLE CONTENT
simulates behavior represents action extends conversation
addresses: a way to addresses: a means to addresses: an opportunity to
engage with others interact with a story connect with new ideas
satisfies: the need to satisfies: the need for satiates: the fear of isolation,
understand motivations renewed context jumping into the unknown
inspires: achievement inspires: interaction inspires: loyalty

59. Think about what
this means in terms
of loyalty, reward
and recognition.

60. THE SOCIAL LEVERS: [actions]
[sentiment] videos
[behaviors]
“I am going to share this because I
memes
VIRALITY
think it’s provocative and I am
curious to see what others think
about it.” (unintentional spread)
games
“I am going to share this because I
PROPAGATION feel strongly about it & I want
others to as well.” (intentional) curation
“I am aligning
with this idea.” TV/IPTV
BROADCAST IN “I’m not sure, BROADCAST OUT
but I will test
the waters.” rich media
ACTIVATION “I am going to invest in this idea by
taking action (in the real world).” apps
[behaviors] [sentiment] events
[actions]

61. STORY & MESSAGING EVOLUTION:
“JUST BECAUSE YOU
COULD, DOESN’T MEAN
YOU SHOULD.”
“I am a
reformed
telling my story
pirate.” “I am an
connecting w/ others activist.”
sharing solutions
“Pirating
takes away
AWARENESS from my own
best interests.”
ACTIVATION ACTION
family is affected
“Remixing “I am a
is a great friends are asking business
leader.”
and creative
alternative.” business is changing
creating new stories
editing new content
designing new product

62. The meta-story. Digitally
interconnected.

63. The measurement framework:
“Return On Intention”
BUSINESS DRIVERS CONTENT DYNAMICS EVOLVING METRICS
P2P REVIEWS INFLUENCER SCORES (NPS)
INTELLIGENT CONSUMPTION FRIEND RECOMMENDATIONS SOCIAL VELOCITY
CITIZEN ARTICLES VIDEO/LINK SHARING
FRIEND MOVEMENTS/MOBS LBS CHECK-INS
CITIZEN ADVOCACY SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS PASS-ALONGS/REDEMPTION
CITIZEN REPORTING NEWS MENTIONS/SEARCH
3RD PARTY REVIEWS REGISTRATIONS/OPEN RATES
POLICYMAKING ENGINEERING WIKIS SEMINAR REGS/VIDEO VIEWS
EDITORIALS BLOG COMMENTS/FB UPDATES
sCRM CHANNELS REFERRAL OFFERS
AUDIENCE ACQUISITION &
RETENTION
VIRTUAL CALL CENTERS DM SURVEYS
REAL-TIME FORUMS MENTIONS/ORGANIC SEARCH
DEVELOPMENT FORUMS CITIZEN FB/G+ PAGES
EMERGING MARKETS HACKER INNOVATIONS G+ HANGOUTS
CITIZEN DEMOS BRAND INQUIRIES

64. REMEMBER:
Design to measure.
(And measure for design.)

65. Piracy is a
mindset that
operates in a
continuum. How
will we leverage
technology, media
and culture to
adapt to shifts in
behavior? To take
complexity head
on?

66. THE PEOPLE:

67. CONTACT:
Gunther Sonnenfeld
Co-Founder & Managing Partner,
@ThinkState
(w) http://thinkstate.com
[b] http://goonth.posterous.com
[t] @goonth
gunther@thinkstate.com