More Junk on TV?

After buying iFilm only a month ago, MTV Networks has unveiled plans for a new show to run on VH1 called Web Junk hosted by Patrice O'Neal. A retro way of looking at it would be to call it the next generation of Americas Funniest Videos. God knows, the American public never tires of laughing at others meet with disaster, and I'm sure this type of footage will show up, but, really the web-based interactive nature of the show is the opening shot of a whole new world of user-generated content infiltrating television.

In ten years the distinction between internet and TV will be so seamless, we'll know it only in memory. Memories of the old days when art and entertainment came at us from "professionals" and we absorbed, like good little drones will be replaced by interactive platforms. Right now, the shorts uploaded onto iFilms will show on three platforms: TV, the iFilm website, and VSpot, which is a broadband platform also owned by MTV.

I'm not quite sure what VSpot is or what it offers that the other two platforms don't, apparently, an on-demand feature that TV doesn't have, but better speed than you'll get through the iFilm website. It seems like for the next few years, at least, we'll have to deal with this patchwork quilt of disseminators, or actually, they are now referring to themselves as aggregators... it's better than what they used to be... aggravators. While the small music files screeching across the internet overturned business models and content in the space of a year, it will take longer with film. For now, don't even bother with your feature films, focus on three minute shorts and get yourself some visibility.

Web Junk promises an easy upload feature, so break out your camcorder and Final Cut Pro, make your three-minute statement and watch it on TV, internet and the VSpot streaming option. You don't have to think of movies only in terms of sitting in theaters anymore, or even in terms of sitting at all. Soon, we'll all be watching each other, not only on reality TV, but reality life.... only this time, with special effects. And don't forget to vote for your favorites... our next Steven Speilberg might be Kelly Clarkson.

Who Controls The Internet?

Al Gore thought he invented it. For all we know, this administration, with its closet megalomaniacs, may indeed, possibly with good reason, believe it controls it. From a policy standpoint, they have exerted important influence. At one point, a damning memo from George Bush to Tony Blair, laying out the war with Iraq long before it was approved, was uploaded onto the internet. It was observable to internet users who did not receive service from Comcast, which blocked the memo.

The answer to the above question is: the ISPs. Up till now, we've just assumed the level playing field, equal access structure we've enjoyed thus far, will always continue. Don't bet on it. Short of regulation and Craigslist, the profit motive rules the internet, like everything else. Public companies must maximize profits or they end up like poor Time Warner and all the other entertainment companies having to face their angry shareholders.

For now, the ISPs look at content relatively impartially, giving rise to a new "Flat World" type economy, where all websites have a theoretically equal chance to be seen, to the extent they can gain attention from the public. This policy has given rise to the biggest growth spurt the world has ever seen as tiny, innovative companies and creative individuals all over the world scramble to get their content, ideas, items and services promoted on this incredibly powerful new medium.

This has forced big companies to stop complacently expecting profits from whatever crappy entertainment they provide and have to actually work to profit from content. This has caused problems for those very powerful, wealthy international conglomerates. And they are not taking it lying down. They continue to pressure governments and ISPs to restrict peer to peer usage.

Given the economic temptation, and the lack of transparency to their customers, I think it's only a matter of time until the ISPs start chipping away at their promise of carrier neutrality and start fiddling with hidden ways to profit. For example, ISPs could charge Google a premium to make its searches go faster than Yahoo's. Michael Geist, a Canadian, points to several examples of Canadian ISPs actually being caught fiddling with access speeds (to BitTorrent) and outright blocking. The most disturbing example is of an ISP blocking a pro-union website during a labor dispute. For now it seems they are most tempted to exclude their immediate competitors, the VOIP providers.

Without telling anyone, these companies can remove content, they can block or slow down access to individual sites, they can block particular services, like VOIP, or give preferential access speeds to different companies. The ISPs, like the entertainment companies, are also capable of forming monopolistic associations which will expand their control far beyond what the public would ever want. So far, we have been relatively protected because the interests of providers looking for customers didn't jive with the need of content providers to protect their capital. That can, and probably will, quickly change, as the scramble for market share marking the new industry matures into a far more static, monopolistic one.

The freedom of the internet is heady, but, we must never take it for granted. We will need to protect our internet freedom by searching for its newer, younger voices and making sure they have the same access the big players enjoy.