Eric Schmidt: Mobile World Congress

Kim DotCom On Outdated Business Models

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Kim DotCom: "Piracy comes from, you know, people, let’s say, in Europe who do not have access to movies at the same time that they are released in the US. This is a problem that has been born within this licensing model and the old business model that Hollywood has where they release something first in one country but they show trailers to everyone around the world pitching that new movie but then the 14-year-old kid in France or Germany can’t watch it for another six months, you know? If the business model would be one where everyone has access to this content at the same time, you know, you wouldn’t have a piracy problem. So it’s really, in my opinion, the government of the United States protecting an outdated monopolistic business model that doesn’t work anymore in the age of the internet and that’s what it all boils down to."

I had never heard of the guy before his arrest, although there was no avoiding the MegaUpload name. I agree with the statement above. Movies should be released globally online at once. For $1 per viewing. The movie studios would make tremendous money at that price point.

The Movie Industry's Non Innovation
What Price A Movie?

Paul Orlando's Reaction To My Social Media Week Achievement

Top Influencer During Social Media Week? Moi

Paul Orlando: "Stranger things have happened!"

Chatfe Happy Hour With Paul Orlando
Paul Orlando In The New York Times

Top Influencer During Social Media Week? Moi

From Visually.

Source: Adobe

SXSW Live
New Technology And Old Media
Dinner At Arianna's
Meeting Arianna Huffington
Top 10 Social Media Week Global Influencer
Social Media Week Day 3 Tweets
Social Media Week Top Outreacher
Body Doubles
Social Media Week: Day 2: 120 Tweets
Social Media Week: 100 Tweets Later
Social Media Week: The Social Media Way

A Bird’s Eye View of Social Media Week 2012

Mayor Of TicketMonkey

I just became the mayor of TicketMonkey on @foursquare! 4sq.com/wJW4UK
— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) February 29, 2012

Manick Bhan: The BhanMan Of TicketMonkey
TicketMonkey "Monk-A-Thon"

SoundCloud Picks

SXSW Live

I am not "going." Just like I did not "go" to Social Media Week. But I'd like to see some streaming on the web. And I might even tweet.

GigaOm: March 2011: Where to Watch SXSW Live Online
SXSW: SXSW Announces Live Streaming of Interactive Keynote Presentations
SXSW Interactive Live Streaming Sessions Presented by PepsiCo
IFC: SXSW

Top 10 Social Media Week Global Influencer
Social Media Week Day 3 Tweets
Social Media Week Top Outreacher
Body Doubles
Social Media Week: Day 2: 120 Tweets
Social Media Week: 100 Tweets Later
Social Media Week: The Social Media Way

Chicago

Earlier in the day I got an email from a guy in Chicago who set up a Google alert on some topic and received a blog post of mine in his inbox. Thank you, Google. The post felt very relevant to a startup idea he had been toying with during what he thought might be a year off between startups, but two months in and he is raring to go again. We exchanged a few emails and we talked for half an hour.

I shot a quick email to my team. Can we do this? Yes. There was a quick reply.

Tech consulting with style.

Alex Turner: Piledriver Waltz

Via Fred Wilson

Ron Wayne

@paramendra You are most gracious. Many thanks for your mention. - Ron

— Ron Wayne (@ronaldgwayne) February 24, 2012

I am genuinely overwhelmed by the amount of response that has propagated across the internet as a result of my recent Facebook post.

— Ron Wayne (@ronaldgwayne) February 24, 2012

New Technology And Old Media

Earlier I got back from a dinner party at Arianna's place. (Dinner At Arianna's) If it had been a private party it would have been bad taste to blog about it.

I had no idea The Huffington Post has major international expansion gameplans. I am so impressed. The Huffington Post is still very much a startup, just with more resources.

Paramendra, I very much hope you can join me for a dinner for Juan Luis Cebrian, who heads El Pais, our partner in launching The Huffington Post in Spain. It is at 7pm at my home at _________ 17th Street_______. Let me know if you can make it. All the best, Arianna.

The Huffington Post has been in Canada for a while now. I did not know. It even has a French edition in Canada. And it has already teamed up with the top French newspaper. I did not know. And I thought Arianna bought a yacht and went on a world tour after selling The Huffington Post to AOL. Not so. She is hard at work. If you think the newspaper is dead, talk to Arianna. I did not know El Pais was the biggest newspaper in the Spanish speaking world. I had never heard of that brand name.

I got to meet a whole bunch of people on the El Pais team. And I congratulated each of them. I told them I was not with The Huffington Post, although looks like I might do a few projects for them. ("How do you know Arianna?" "I met her at a party a few days back.")

I told them, this is a really smart move for both of you to be making. You have the content and the culture and the local reach that The Huffington Post does not have. The Huffington Post has the magic that you don't have. They do not embrace new technology, they have not mastered new technology, it is more like they were born out of new technology. Being big will not save you. RIM of Blackberry fame was big. The Huffington Post does new technology better than any newspaper in the world. Teaming up with them will rub off on you.

And I got to meet Joe Klein, the Time columnist. "You are Joe Klein, right?"

And - take this - I got to meet Charlie Rose, the man himself. "Charlie, I am a huge fan of your show." So true. Nobody quite like Charlie in the business.

I also met the president of MSNBC, but he had to tell me that.

I met a Danish guy out of London who sold a video startup to AOL for $100 million, and another guy who sold a startup to AOL for an undisclosed sum.

Towards the very end I got to meet Arianna's sister: "I am the artist in the family."

Meeting Arianna Huffington

Ends up Arianna did not buy a yacht. She bought something better. She has a great, great apartment. The big, open space of the living room, the view of the Freedom Tower, the white coloring of the walls. It is nice.

Mike Arrington and Arianna Huffington are a study in contrasts. One sold the top tech blog in the world to AOL, another sold the top blog in the world to AOL. And the similarities kind of end there. Arianna's is the biggest startup newspaper in the world, a newspaper for the digital era. In short, you ain't seen nothing yet.

If AOL remakes itself in Arianna's image, it will more than thrive. It will not end up a Yahoo.