1. Rapid Fire with Robert Levine Curated by Prashant Harish Hari

2. 1) Would you agree the Internet overall is uncontrollable? And that weve reached a point in piracy which is now beyond what we can call piracy with accessibility to content being so universal? Or would you say with the right measures in place, it still can be controlled? The Internet is uncontrollable in the sense that everything is uncontrollable, but we havent let that stop us from trying toregulate other kinds of technology. When we talk aboutpiracy, we have to decide what our goal is. Ifthe goal is to eliminate piracy, I think thats unrealistic; we havent done that in the analog world, where it would presumably be easier.

3. 1) Would you agree the Internet overall is uncontrollable? And that weve reached a point in piracy which is now beyond what we can call piracy with accessibility to content being so universal? Or would you say with the right measures in place, it still can be controlled? I think the goal should be to reduce piracy to the point where it doesnt prevent the legal market from functioning. And, to answer your other question, I thinkwere close to that with music, but there are signs that this is coming back. So, OK, how can we reduce piracy? To me, piracy thrives when theres a short distance between legal and illegal options in terms of convenience.

4. 1) Would you agree the Internet overall is uncontrollable? And that weve reached a point in piracy which is now beyond what we can call piracy with accessibility to content being so universal? Or would you say with the right measures in place, it still can be controlled? If you think about New York, its often possible to buy pirated DVDs in the Times Square subway station, but this has disadvantages: the guys selling them are never in the same place, their selection isntgood, and the quality of their product is often low. Most people just rent or buy legally. Now lets look at Bangkok; there, you can buypirated DVDs in stores, conveniently, and the fact that they want you to come back means theyre less likely to rip you off. The convenience difference isnt so great, piracy thrives, and the legal How can we bring this market is in awful shape. about online?

5. 1) Would you agree the Internet overall is uncontrollable? And that weve reached a point in piracy which is now beyond what we can call piracy with accessibility to content being so universal? Or would you say with the right measures in place, it still can be controlled?Partly, we need convenient legal options. We alsoneed enough enforcement to keep piracy inconvenient. I think thatenforcement needs to be against what I call commercial infringers for-profit entities engaged in illegal mass copyright infringement. I dont think enforcement against individuals is as practical.

6. 2) With advances in wearable technology like Google Glass and the I watch, what do you think the Impact will be on the content and culture industry? Im not sure the iWatch will matter all that much in this particularcontext. Same with Google Glass, at least in the short term. I see it as more of a privacy issue. There are obviously potential copyright whats going to stop anyone issues, as well who goes to a movie from recording itwhile they watch, then live-streaming it online?

7. 2) With advances in wearable technology like Google Glass and the I watch, what do you think the Impact will be on the content and culture industry? I think it will take a while before thats practical. And, once again, Ithink we ought to regulate it sensibly. There are special laws againstcamcording movies as they play. Perhaps theres some way to adapt those without interfering with privacy rights. I havent thought about this much. But, again, I think Google Glass will raise a lot more privacy issues than copyright issues.

8. 3) What would you think the consumers should actually pay for in todays Internet age- the content ? Or the quality of the packaging and experience ? Or access to the content across multiple devices (e.g UltraViolet) Or something else? The customer journey has changed drastically in terms of how one gets hold of content (books, movies, TV) Should is hard to deal with; consumers will say everything should be free, while businesses would say the opposite. I think the question is howdo we restore a functioning market for media and what do they find worth paying for in that market? I pay for the New York Times every month, and the main reason I do so is that because I like reading it.

9. 3) What would you think the consumers should actually pay for in todays Internet age- the content ? Or the quality of the packaging and experience ? Or access to the content across multiple devices (e.g UltraViolet) Or something else? The customer journey has changed drastically in terms of how one gets hold of content (books, movies, TV)Im sure I could get it for free if I put some work into it; the Times paywall is hardly airtight. But Id just as soon pay for it. You know, the leading reason why consumers dont pay for newspaper content is that no one asks them Thereto. There are other reasons, of course, but thats the main one. are other ways to get people to pay forcontent, and I think the most important are the ones you mentioned: Packaging and access.

10. 3) What would you think the consumers should actually pay for in todays Internet age- the content ? Or the quality of the packaging and experience ? Or access to the content across multiple devices (e.g UltraViolet) Or something else? The customer journey has changed drastically in terms of how one gets hold of content (books, movies, TV) We know packaging works. I think access will, too. UltraViolet is exactly what consumers say they want: Instant,online access to what they own. Now maybe UltraViolet gotsome details wrong. But the idea is strong this is what people want. Well, I should say its what most people want. Some people are offended at the Peopleidea of any closed system. But I think thats not a popular view.pay $2 to get their own money out of an ATM. Theres no reason this cant work.

11. 4) Would you agree the current model of operation with piracy will affect studios in the longer term? Despite the overall US boxoffice receipts made in cinema was over 10.5 bn? Or was 2012 an odd year out for cinema? I think its deceptive to look at US box office receipts, since they dont matter all that much. For most films, box office receipts make up between a fifth and a fourth of total revenueand thats worldwide. Films also make a lot of money on DVD, and that business has just been devastatednot only by piracy, but I thinkthats a big part of it. If you look at the studios, theyre having toughyearsclosing departments, layoffs, that kind of thing. Thats reality.

12. 5) For Newspapers, do you think a model where consumers pay for the quality of the content via its journalistic integrity (i.e pay per the article) than a complete free access works better?I think charging for journalism is a great model forquality newspapers that dont deliver what Id call commodity newsjust a summarization of thedays events. It works well for them. It wouldnt work for others. But it might be worth trying to make a paper better so you could charge for it. I also think that it makes more sense to charge for the paper than to charge by thearticlethe former gives publishers more control and more flexibility.

13. 6) Is there a market opportunity in DTH (Direct-to-Home releases) being missed completely? Perhaps, but thats not the right question to ask. First off, I think were starting to see movies becomeavailable sooner, and in more formats, so I think this is an ongoing process. But, just for the sake ofargument, lets start with the premise that no movies are available as Direct-to-Home releases on the day they come out. Is that a market thats being missed? Of course! But that market wouldntexist in isolation. So the real question is: Would the positive effects of that market outweigh its negative effects?

14. 6) Is there a market opportunity in DTH (Direct-to-Home releases) being missed completely? For example, if its suddenly possible to see movies at home as soon as theyre available in theatres, its easy to imagine that theatres might stop running those movies. Or that more theatres might close. And these questions arent just financial: Although the economics of direct sales might be better than those of theatrical showings,theatres provide significant marketing benefits; movie marketing is done with theatrical openings in mind, and that tends to fuel demand for movies all the way through their lifecycle.

15. 6) Is there a market opportunity in DTH (Direct-to-Home releases) being missed completely?Now I dont know the answer to this question - there arejust too many variables. But this is how studiosthink - in terms of maximizing revenueagainst a significant sunk cost. And anyonewho finds this strange ought to remember that much of Googles success is due to the same kind of thinking: Itdoesnt just sell ads, it maximizes the revenue from eachad sale, according to a complicated, proprietary auction system.

16. 7) Do you think a model like ultraviolet is the model of the future where the individual pays for a one off access to x amount of content on the cloud for a monthly basis which can be accessed across any device? Also, what (if any) different implications do you see for industries like Bollywood and Hong Kong versus Hollywood? Or do you think it will be a global issue and all industries will face the same issue regardless of cultural boundaries?I dont think there is the model of the future, any more than theres one model for the present. I think well have a few difference models, just as we do now. As far as UltraViolet, its hard to sayI just dont know. But I do think the idea of paying for access will be a much more important part of the future than paying for discreet pieces of content, a la iTunes songs.

17. 7) Do you think a model like ultraviolet is the model of the future where the individual pays for a one off access to x amount of content on the cloud for a monthly basis which can be accessed across any device? Also, what (if any) different implications do you see for industries like Bollywood and Hong Kong versus Hollywood? Or do you think it will be a global issue and all industries will face the same issue regardless of cultural boundaries? But, remember, thats not exactly new: Cable television works the same way. The format is different, but consumers buy blanketaccess to a certain amount of content for a certain amount of time.

18. 7) Do you think a model like ultraviolet is the model of the future where the individual pays for a one off access to x amount of content on the cloud for a monthly basis which can be accessed across any device? Also, what (if any) different implications do you see for industries like Bollywood and Hong Kong versus Hollywood? Or do you think it will be a global issue and all industries will face the same issue regardless of cultural boundaries?As far as Bollywood and Hong Kong, Im not sure I know enoughabout the businesses there to comment on them in a meaningfulway. I do think that foreign film businesses would benefit from more copyright protection, which would allow producers to invest more, whichwould in turn allow filmmakers to do more, which would help create the kind of production values that would allow those countries to make more money exporting their films. But as far as how those businesses should look, its hard for me to say.

19. Robert Levine Robert Levine on Twitter: @RobertBLevine_ Website: http://freeridethebook.wordpress.com/ FREE RIDE on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Free-Ride-Internet-Destroying- Business/dp/1847921485

20. Contact Me Twitter: @prazhari or @showwizz Email: prazhari@socialwizz.com or prazhari@gmail.com Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Socialwizz/250904898294028?fref=ts LinkedIN: nz.linkedin.com/in/prashanthari/ Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/socialwizz/pins/ About me: http://about.me/prazhari Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/masterpraz/edit_my_uploads