IDEA: MediaWallet

[blurden]

I would like to propose this idea and check it with the community for validation and perhaps even others who might be interested in helping to build it. By all means please tell me if anyone is already working on something similar...

At its core it is a media player/agregator coupled with a wallet.

If content creators can create their content and package it with a "MediaPackager" they will be able to host their content anywhere they want. The MediaPackager could secure the content (video, movie, series, song, album, pdf, software et al) and establish the payment type ie one time, subscription, lifetime membership etc.

The "MediaWallet" allows users to browse an indexed content web through something to the likes of modified-atom feeds that the packagers create and maintain. We will establish a direct creator-to-consumer marketplace and get rid of the middlemen. ~30% more to the creators. The system itself could even act as its own CDN. The MediaWallet could also be built in such a way as to allow for plugins that might extend functionality.

the OPEN MediaWallet ecosystem would include the following for a decent user experience:
+ media wallet client for a variety of contexts (tv/consoles, desktop, tablet, mobile)
+ media packager client
+ plugin protocol

I know the W3C payments group dreams of doing something like this but it seems we could as a community create something better and way before the browsers adopt it.

[blurden]

plugin sample ideas -
+ inside the MediaWallet a plugin might allow direct access to a preferred exchange
+ creators can create media alliances that allow a single subscription to access their content

client ideas -
+ the client could behave similar to a digest/magazine a la flipboard to allow for casual discovery among other modes

[cbeast]

Not to discourage the idea, but one of the best qualities of Bitcoin is that you "push" payments rather than have them pulled from an account by the vendor. As long as Bitcoin distinguishes itself by allowing 2fa or some other wallet control, then it makes an ideal wallet for subscription based content.

[blurden]

Not to discourage the idea, but one of the best qualities of Bitcoin is that you "push" payments rather than have them pulled from an account by the vendor. As long as Bitcoin distinguishes itself by allowing 2fa or some other wallet control, then it makes an ideal wallet for subscription based content.

I am not sure what 2fa is, can you elaborate?
I can only imagine that subscriptions would be opt-in within this MediaWallet - it would automatically push a payment on a regular basis until you stop it.

[blurden]

2fa - 2 factor authorization (i've got it)

[Stephen Gornick]

As long as Bitcoin distinguishes itself by allowing 2fa or some other wallet control, then it makes an ideal wallet for subscription based content.

There is some 2FA approach for use with P2SH as Gavin describes: https://gist.github.com/gavinandresen/5616606, but that's is likely way overkill to make it work with a micropayments subscription type of of application.   

Coinbase's subscriptions service probably could provide greater ease-of-use, and since it is already offered today by Coinbase that could be implemented more easily.   But the problem with Coinbase's subscriptions is that the customer is pre-authorizing the "merchant" to withdraw.  With the Open MediaWallet concept as I understand it, the content creators would each be merchants and thus that Coinbase subscription model doesn't work.  If there was a single Coinbase account for all MediaWallet content creators, about the only protection from abuse (e.g., payment drawn without approval by a scammer acting as content creator) comes from the amount being limited (i.e., $X per-week limit).

Rather than subscriptions, the micropayments channel (which  BitcoinJ has now implemented) would be a better fit:
 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Contracts#Example_7:_Rapidly-adjusted_.28micro.29payments_to_a_pre-determined_party