bittit - Sell your pictures for Bitcoins

[Tritonio]

I don't quite get it. Will the solution of the picture increase forever and everyone visiting the site or is it just for my web-session on your page?

Visitors pay to increase the resolution for everyone.

So if you upload a photo and set the price to 5BTC, it will be shown at the maximum resolution when the total amount of BTC paid to the picture's address reaches 5BTC.

For example you upload a picture that is 2000x1000 pixels. You set the price to 5BTC and the initial resolution to 100 (which is the default).
Initially the picture's resolution will be 200x100 (0BTC paid)
For 2.5BTC paid the resolution will be 1100x550 (that is the smallest size will be halfway between 100 and 1000 just like 2.5BTC is halfway to 1BTC).
For 5BTC the resolution will reach 2000x1000.

Additionally the quality of the served JPG file will increase. In the end the quality setting will be 100% which is almost lossless.

[1713883812]

1713883812

[Tritonio]

bittit is now in onionland too: http://etedojmrkv7ycxn4.onion
You obviously need to access this via Tor. (https://www.torproject.org/)

[Tritonio]

Also I really need some feedback on something. I am thinking of adding validated acocunts so that people will know who to sue if the pictures aren't original. I am thinking of ways that one could validate his/her account. Validated accounts will be able to upload pictures that are marked as such (red border and a note probably).

 Currently I am thinking of these ways to validate:

1. One time minimal payment (like 0.5$) via Paypal. I don't like this because it involves paypal which can go **** *******.
2. The user could send me a registered mail to prove his identity but I just got informed that you can send registered mail without showing any ID so it provides zero authentication.
3. I could send a PIN with registered mail to someone (or even not registered?). That would prove that this is his/her address and name. To cover the costs I could ask for a few bitcents in advance.
4. I could send a PIN with SMS. This would only work in the retarded countries where you need ID to buy even a prepaid phone (like here in Greece). Again I could ask for a few bitcents in advance.
5. GPG signatures. It could work if we had a serious web of trust.

Any ideas? I'd really love to do this and be competitive to other stock photo marketplaces.

I was looking at istockphoto's terms. If I am not mistaken the only thing you have to do is this:

The personal information in your account must be full and accurate in order to upload files to iStockphoto. Ensure that your full first and last name are correct, and include your current street address (so that we know where to mail your royalty payments). If this information is incomplete or incorrect, your application will be declined. At the end of the application, you will also be required to upload one piece of government-issued picture ID (such as a passport or driver's license) in jpeg format.

This can be cheated with some simple photoshopping I suppose but I don't know if someone would be able to receive money with a fake address. The bad thing is that with Bitcoins I can't do the same. One can receive money and photoshop his ID.

[HostFat]

Idea, try improve it:
They ( users ) have to upload X photo ( you chose the X number ), and all of them must be valid.
Users ( everyone ) must be able to report pictures.

If all of them are valid, then they will be able to withdraw bitcoins and their account will become verified.
They wont be able to withdraw anything before this.

[Tritonio]

Idea, try improve it:
They ( users ) have to upload X photo ( you chose the X number ), and all of them must be valid.
Users ( everyone ) must be able to report pictures.

If all of them are valid, then they will be able to withdraw bitcoins and their account will become verified.
They wont be able to withdraw anything before this.

I could work although some users could could grief that system by reporting photos as stolen and delay payments.
But in any case I don't wan't to down that path. Currently payments go directly to the uploader. I don't want to change that as it would require me getting a much better VPS and also I just like the system as it is, without me getting between the transacting parties.

I'm leaning towards the 3rd solution. Sending PINs over registered mail. It's not the fastest way but I think it's pretty secure and professional photographers or graphic designers wouldn't have a problem with it, if they want to increase their trustworthiness.

[Tritonio]

I just made a few changes, the most important of which is that ALL kinds of files can be sold now.

It goes like this:

1. You upload, for example, your unpublished book. You set the starting size at 100 bytes. And the price to 20BTC.
2. The first 100 bytes of your book are now on the public domain for free.
3. People pay to read more. Bytes are linearly "revealed" while payments approach 20BTC.
4. Your book is fully published when you have gotten 20BTC.

The same system will probably work with mp3 files, most video files, tar files and any other file that makes sense to have the first X% of its data.

It's still BETA but you may give it a try. It's the second tab in the upload page. Max upload size is 60MB and as always you have to put original content (although this time it will be harder for me to check whether it's original or not).

Enjoy!

PS: I've written something about the reasons why I made bittit on my blog: http://www.inshame.com/2011/12/on-intellectual-property-also.html (I believe it's fine to give the link here)

PS2: I'll go to sleep now so whatever you upload will be approved in about 8 hours... ;-)

[weex]

I haven't read this entire thread so please excuse me if it's already been said but...

This site has some layout issues for me. I get photos popping out of their boxes, disclaimer text that seems to run over other copies of itself as well as Links popping under the next item's box.

I'm a big fan of simple, uncluttered design and I think you would do well to actually remove any unnecessary visual elements: the cloudy wallpaper, the shadows, the boxes, and the horizontal lines in the info for each post, hell while we're at it, just list the Links/tags as simple clickable words ala craigslist.

I also can't read the top right stuff in the menu bar.

I think your site is founded on an awesome idea and that anything that makes it easier for folks to sell their digital wares for Bitcoin is a huge plus. Reduce the clutter and you'll find people will feel comfortable spending more time, more BTC, and you'll probably get better content listed there as well.

[giszmo]

(although this time it will be harder for me to check whether it's original or not).

How do you do it with pix? I mean people could stream their pron subscription to your site and as long as you don't have such a subscription you would have no way of telling if this is all private pix or owned by someone as long as someone doesn't file a DMCA against you.
Besides it doesn't have to be pron. It could also be private pictures from facebook.
In your best interest you should either go underground yourself or require your users to register and remove all unregistered content.

[Tritonio]

(although this time it will be harder for me to check whether it's original or not).

How do you do it with pix? I mean people could stream their pron subscription to your site and as long as you don't have such a subscription you would have no way of telling if this is all private pix or owned by someone as long as someone doesn't file a DMCA against you.
Besides it doesn't have to be pron. It could also be private pictures from facebook.
In your best interest you should either go underground yourself or require your users to register and remove all unregistered content.

If someone uploads a copyrighted picture then DMCA will probably give me an early warning and not a direct lawsuit. I can't check about Facebook pictures probably but I think the combination of Google and Tineye rules out most of the private subscription pix as they are usually riped and spread all over the internet. BTW I forgot the most important one: I require validation from someone that uploads nudes or porn. It's not 100% foolproof but it's the best I can do. (more info about validation can be found in the help pages of bittit or you may ask and I'll give the details here).

I haven't read this entire thread so please excuse me if it's already been said but...

This site has some layout issues for me. I get photos popping out of their boxes, disclaimer text that seems to run over other copies of itself as well as Links popping under the next item's box.

I'm mostly using Chrome and Firefox and they both seem to have no problems. Every now and then I try the site with IE9 and last time I checked I saw some minor problems, like bitcoin addresses running one or two characters our of the picture boxes. Usually fixing things for every version of IE takes more time than making the site in the first place so I put my efforts into being standards compliant, then making the site usable in IE and then I spend the rest of my time making something new for the site instead of polishing it for every version of IE. It just takes to much time to be worth it. Nevertheless if you tell me which OS and browser you used when you saw those problems I might be able to fix them. Also which pictures exhibit them should help too. :-)

I'm a big fan of simple, uncluttered design and I think you would do well to actually remove any unnecessary visual elements: the cloudy wallpaper, the shadows, the boxes, and the horizontal lines in the info for each post, hell while we're at it, just list the Links/tags as simple clickable words ala craigslist.

I like simple designs too but I think the site is already way below the average visual complexity of all websites. The background is very simple and it's practically the only picture in the site, the shadows don't look like clutter to most people (actually I really fancy them) but I agree that the horizontal lines may go. I probably put them there to line up the left with the right column and to make it easier to see what is opposite of what. I'll remove them tomorrow and see how it is. Now is by "simplicity" you mean "craig-list-simplicity" then I don't think I like it. Unless you only meant I should remove the white boxes around the links.

I also can't read the top right stuff in the menu bar.

Why not? Also what resolution is your screen? I'm thinking about grouping some of the legal stuff of the topbar into one but I don't know if the laws in the USA require those links to be individually visible.

I think your site is founded on an awesome idea and that anything that makes it easier for folks to sell their digital wares for Bitcoin is a huge plus. Reduce the clutter and you'll find people will feel comfortable spending more time, more BTC, and you'll probably get better content listed there as well.

I will try remove what I can from the layout. :-)

[Dansker]

Nice idea, poor execution is my view on this.

You could also sell copyright licenses for the pictures this way.

[Tritonio]

Nice idea, poor execution is my view on this.

The images offered should only be from trusted sources, and of the highest quality.

I guess this could come with time, but it would be more effective to re-launch the site once the software, design and system is tested and in place, and then launch it properly with money invested into doing it right.

This could include paying someone people already know they want to see more. For example make exclusive contracts with porn stars with a lot of fans, and then make this the only way these select exclusive pics could ever be seen.
[/quote]
I don't really want to force good quality or trusted only pictures TBH. I'd prefer to keep the market open for everyone. But the idea of bringing content from famous people themselves is very good. There is already a way to get validated so perhaps I could offer more promotion to validated users by putting up a list of their albums in the front page. I will that ASAP and then try to find someone to list their photos.

Could be a good way to sell paparazzi pictures as well: either people could pay like on this site, to have the res made gradually better, but also add a buy-out option, where the buyer is the only one to get it in high-res, halting the ability to pay smaller amounts to have the resolution better from that point on.

Do you mean that the buy out option would be a higher price than the normal price, or lower? Or whatever the seller wants?

I like the buyout idea and my only objection is that it goes beyond the aims of bittit which is to provide a market that needs no copyright laws to work. Putting a buyout option needs laws in order to have a meaning. But that's not a serious objection so I will consider adding something like that.

Another problem with buyout is that some people might have chipped in already and now they will not be able to get any more of the picture. It might scare some people off chipping in because they might anytime loose the chance to actually get the picture on the public domain. So why would they chip in to get a low res version of the picture and then someone else prohibits them from getting anything better than that? I can see many annoying scenarios with that and I'll have to think of a way to counter them first. Else I'd be just making yet another photo selling site. 

[Dansker]

.

[Tritonio]

The buyout could annoy others yeah, no doubt, but it would urge people to not sit and linger so much.

The buyout could cost more, or the same as getting the full image de-blurred publically, but it would of course all have to be paid by one person, and all paid at once.

You can use some of the ideas they use in porn, which is often at the front end of innovation. For example www.myfreecams.com - you can be a basic member and look at the girl do whatever, tip in public to make them do little stuff, but at any time, anyone can pay a larger sum to have the girl 1 on 1.

A bunch of users can also group up and pay for the exclusive access to a girl together.

Use what is already in existence to inspire you.

This could also be a great way (not the buyout option, but the regular de-blurring) for established web-cartoons to make money: Every new cartoon starts out blurred, and fans pay BTC to get the cartoon strip unblurred.

This way, the cartoonist will get paid according to how eager people are to read the new cartoons, and doesn't have to worry about getting paid.

I will think about how something like that can implemented without interfering with the main purpose of the site which is to sell pictures on the public domain. BTW the first uses I thought about bittit was /r/gonewild pictures and webcomics. :-D

It makes a lot of sense for webcomics. And I even provide hotlinks to the images so it's trivial for someone to use them in his blog or comic site. And then place the bitcoin address below.

[Dansker]

Good luck!

[film2240]

Are there other places or ways on here for selling multiple stock photos that I've taken? What is typically the going rate for a stock photo in BTC? As I have a few photos that I wish to sell soon. Thanks.

[Tritonio]

So... I don't know if his is the place to ask but it's kinda about bittit so I'll ask.

It looks like the ad place in bittit is really underpaid. I rarely get more than one ad bid so I practically don't get paid for the ad in it. I would prefer not to set up a minimum fee and instead rely on people to decide the price for the ad. But why isn't that happening?

I got the same problem with the ad on my blog. Before some time I had an ad that paid really well but now the price I get is 1BTC/55000 views.

Any ideas why this is happening?

[edd]

So... I don't know if his is the place to ask but it's kinda about bittit so I'll ask.

It looks like the ad place in bittit is really underpaid. I rarely get more than one ad bid so I practically don't get paid for the ad in it. I would prefer not to set up a minimum fee and instead rely on people to decide the price for the ad. But why isn't that happening?

I got the same problem with the ad on my blog. Before some time I had an ad that paid really well but now the price I get is 1BTC/55000 views.

Any ideas why this is happening?

I think the amount of available ad space outweighs the demand. There are probably a lot of other, psychological factors that should be taken into account, as well. I'm still baffled as to why the ad I have on BitBrew in the sidebar, unobtrusively near the bottom of the page, gets higher and more frequent bids than the banner ad I have in the header of The Bitcoin List, which also gets at least 2 - 3 times as many page views in a day.

[Tritonio]

I decided to do a little contest on bittit. Whoever uploads the nicest photo (or any picture) in the next 2 days* will win a free full verification (which normally costs 5 euros).

Rules:
1. All bittit rules and ToS apply: notably the photo must be unpublished and you must own the copyright.
2. NSFW photos are not allowed in the contest (although they are allowed on bittit)
3. When I say the nicest photo, I mean the nicest in my opinion (although I'll probably ask a few friends first). Nice doesn't mean that it must frame something beautiful. A photo of a beggar could be nice although it displays something sad, etc...
4. To get fully verified I will send you two upload codes by registered mail. That means I have to know your real name and address. If you are not fine with that then don't take part in the contest (but you are free to upload you pictures of course).
5. Don't forget to put you email in the corresponding field while uploading or I won't be able to contact you. If you don't want to put an email then just put something like "reddit: username" or "bitcointalk: username" and I'll contact you there.
6. You can upload as many as you want.

That's all. Start uploading!

*lets say it ends at Sunday 17 Feb 12:00GMT.

PS: blockexplorer is down so bittit might have problems too showing some pictures or uploading files.

[Tritonio]

You can now sort pictures by BTC left to be paid (cheapest first). This sorting can be turned on and off from the topbar. Thanks to jesset for the suggestion.

Oh if anyone wants free verification just tell me. The guys that won the contest still haven't answered so...

[film2240]

You can now sort pictures by BTC left to be paid (cheapest first). This sorting can be turned on and off from the topbar. Thanks to jesset for the suggestion.

Oh if anyone wants free verification just tell me. The guys that won the contest still haven't answered so...

I'd like to get back to you on the free (basic) verify status for the SFW section only due to what was discussed on another thread.