[M4IF Discuss] ("use" fees) Thanks Larry & another question.

[Paul Sergeant]

Hello everyone,
I have been lurking for a few days - trying to gauge the main issues 
regarding the MPEG-4 licensing announcements. And then my mail went 
straight to Jeff and not the group lol - well I want this to go to the list 
for consideration anyway...
Some of you may be aware from other lists that I work for UKERNA - the 
company that manages the UK academic backbone on behalf of the JISC (Joint 
Informations System Committee) and the various eductional funding councils. 
We have a 2.5Gb/s core which is being upgraded to 10Gb/s this year. We have 
approximately 6 million users!
I am currently working on a Project Initiation Document which details a 
pilot/demonstrator that will be using Kasenna MediaBase (Network Edition) 
as the core technology for the storage and distribution of 'controlled' 
academic/research content over the JANET network.
We are working with content aggregators such as the BUFVC  (British 
Universities Film & Video Council) to host and distribute content acquired 
and licensed on behalf of the UK research & academic community - with 
public funds, with the aim of making it available online as a potential 
national resource (if the demonstrator goes well of course).
Initially we will be hosting around 200 hours of content. I *have* to 
supply streams in all formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, Windows Media, Quicktime, 
Real) and at assorted bitrates (up to and perhaps beyond 8mb/s),  there are 
lots of different players/codecs/OS variations out there in academia (just 
like the rest of the world)
Like most people in this industry - I would like to see some standards and 
inter-operation between the different components of streaming supply chain. 
In fact it would be ideal to be able to offer content in just one format 
(or small selection of standards based formats) that most people would be 
able to use -  this would save a fortune in encoding/transcoding costs.
We are nowhere near ready to launch a service yet - but if we do, we have 
no plans to charge for access to, or usage of the content so far. We may 
have to charge institutions a fee to join the Video Content Distribution 
Network (especially if edge devices or bandwidth upgrades are required). 
The original content providers will profit of course - they license the 
rights for up to 10 years, for not insubstantial sums of money.
Oh yes - and we plan to use multicast also... I would like to do some SSM 
trials... so does anyone know where the MPEG-4 user 
tracking/authentication/billing system reside, and how will it work with 
Multicast? Is there such a proposed system or is it down to the operator of 
the streaming servers/network to monitor usage and offer payment?
Best Regards
Paul Sergeant
At 00:11 07/02/2024 -0500, you wrote:
>"Surely I'm not the only one who realizes
>the enormity of Mr. Handy's MPEG-4 user-fee
>workarounds. "
>
>
>
>How can you say that?  I'm trying to get the most accurate and complete
>info to hand to the brass here.  I have to sell them.  This means I have
>to be sold myself.  I need to know what we are up against cost-wise.
>I'm not trying to weasel out of paying.
>
>
>
>This is a minor cost compared with implementation and deployment.  It
>means re-capturing, re-compressing, re-authoring and redeploying all
>media.  It’s not going to be easy or cheap.  We would most likely pay
>"use fees" through our streaming service provider anyway - Akamai.  I
>just want to know the black and white of all of our costs.  I'd hardly
>call my inquiries and suggestions "workarounds."  You make it sound like
>I'm hiding in the shadows waiting to pirate content.
>
>
>
>We have more than 100,000 students; so our "use fee" costs will have to
>be considered as part of our overall costs.  My questions have been
>answered satisfactorily so far.  The use fees would apply to our
>students.  After all, it is them who will be paying ultimately.
>Overall, I think they would be happy to pay a little to get tons more
>functionality.  And it would save us lots of tech support calls.
>
>Jeff Handy

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Paul Sergeant
Content Delivery Architect
UKERNA, Atlas Centre, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0QS, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1235-822200 (Ext.385)
DD: +44 (0) 1235-822385
Fax: +44 (0) 1235-822399
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