Author Topic: Peer-to-peer direct stock selling platform (WireStock) (Read 169057 times)

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #250 on:** December 06, 2017, 10:44 »

Quote from: niktol on December 06, 2017, 10:26

And if bitcoins don't work out you can always invest in pets

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42237162

...or IOTA, which your fridge and your toaster will use.

mediamasterrace · « **Reply #251 on:** December 06, 2017, 22:08 »

Quote from: niktol on December 06, 2017, 10:26

And if bitcoins don't work out you can always invest in pets

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-42237162

This article drives home the fact that blockchain is still new and it might not be ready for prime time use by businesses yet if a game can slow it down this much. Thanks for posting that.

For the stock video and photo industry perhaps a traditional peer to peer network would be better then, lets call it StockWire for the sake of this discussion, everyone has their content on their own drives, there is this app that allows customers to search for titles and keywords, preview the clip and then add it to the download folder and upon pressing download button this is were you would be stopped and asked for payment, once payment is made the download takes place and payment is sent to the vendor.

Exactly like how Limewire used to work except with a payment option for buyers, the operators of the app would take a small percentage but considering that the files are stored locally on artists own drives we don't have the massive storage costs on AWS or server farms, we don't need expensive offices and all that many staff so there would be a lot less overhead in running the operation decentralized like this.

Key is to have it super easy to search, pay and download for the customers, just like they have it with the current sites and similarly for the content producers. Customers aren't gonna do anything from the command line so this needs to be super easy and simple and work on desktop/laptop and mobile flawlessly or the customers will not like it and not use it.

Peer to Peer just might be the way to go and maybe skip blockchain for now until it's ready or if someone wants to do an ICO and raise millions that might work too but conventional peer to peer would be fine.

This way prices could stay the same but artists could keep more of their hard earned money, right now we give up 50-75% or more of our earnings to the agencies.

As for what prices the buyer would have to pay, depends on the artist, they would set their own prices for various content and the buyers can decide what they want and can afford to pay and the agencies have massive costs but the end result is this is not sustainable as a business any longer for the suppliers.

This might also make things more secure in come cases, there has been ongoing incidents of theft of video and photos from these big agencies with their "IT teams", same with how many other big firms? Equifax anyone?, the average artist would probably have better security on their laptops than these companies and they are smaller harder to find targets for the bad guys.

I haven't been hacked yet or gotten one virus/malware in my life, my secret?, religiously do my operating system updates and my security software updates, I literally check for updates manually twice a day. So now if I do happen to click on something bad it gets blocked real quick, I also turn off things like webRTC, and of course the SMB protocol I have turned off to protect against many of the ransomware variants, there are a few other things but I can't remember but I'm just one person, not a professional security team.

I think a feasibility study is in order.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #252 on:** December 06, 2017, 22:40 »

"For the stock video and photo industry perhaps a traditional peer to peer network would be better then, lets call it StockWire for the sake of this discussion, everyone has their content on their own drives, there is this app that allows customers to search for titles and keywords, preview the clip"

We already had this (hosted on your own website). It was called symbiostock. Buyers didn't really care. I don't really know if I want the world accessing my computer to download things.

obj owl · « **Reply #253 on:** December 06, 2017, 22:48 »

Read the thread properly and you will see it is not feasable, no quality control, no indemnity and no security, no offence, but why would I trust you?

Limewire worked because the data was on dozens or hundreds of computers and because internet speeds were grindingly slow you lose one node the others took over. You could never guarentee that a bookmarked image would be available on demand with your peer to peer system.

mediamasterrace · « **Reply #254 on:** December 09, 2017, 10:48 »

Quote from: obj owl on December 06, 2017, 22:48

Read the thread properly and you will see it is not feasable, no quality control, no indemnity and no security, no offence, but why would I trust you?

Limewire worked because the data was on dozens or hundreds of computers and because internet speeds were grindingly slow you lose one node the others took over. You could never guarentee that a bookmarked image would be available on demand with your peer to peer system.

All valid points and good to discuss, on the issue of security I disagree, I mean just look at the massive thefts from shutterstock and other sites, I think some of us have better security on our local drives than these big companies.

The indemnity problem is also a problem with all these free sites and sites selling stolen content, I am pretty sure people who are obtaining content illegally from those sites in the first place aren't too worried about obeying the law.

As for everything else, obviously there it's a lot more involved but one thing is for sure and that is the status quo is not working, sales dropping across the board to new lows every month, every year, cuts in commissions via all these new and exciting ways to make less money.....it's not working. So the question is, what would work?.

What would work?, can it be done?, how do we do it or a potential new player in the industry do it with a different and lower cost technology?. Current business model is broken for us and the agencies as well or they wouldn't be in a race to the bottom but in a race to raise prices as high as the market will bear.

It is very possible that it's game over as far as making a living at this, change is happening so fast these days my head is spinning and many industries are simply going away.

But the time is over for shooting down any and all ideas, we need to figure out what if anything....will work.

mediamasterrace · « **Reply #255 on:** December 09, 2017, 11:11 »

Speaking of security, not two minutes after my last post I saw a lengthy thread in the SS forum about some new fraud outfit called foundstock giving away the entire SS database, apparently due to a bug or hacking of the API that links them to Facebook.

And how many of these sites have these new and exciting partner programs that give us the opportunity to lose more money incrementally by opening up the database to large volume buyers with deep pockets who otherwise couldn't afford to pay regular prices?. Well the hacking has started and entire databases are now wide open and content flowing out for free. I trust the security of my laptop more than any of these big companies these days and not just stock sites.

At this rate we will all be out of business soon, you can't compete with free and these big companies like SS have many millions of files that are now available for free download so why would anyone pay?

In addition to a new business model for this industry a new security protocol is needed but it's not always technology at fault it often humans, when access is given to these global partners and whatever the security of the database ends right there, you don't know know how the partner companies have configured their databases and what security they have in place, they may even say "we take your security seriously" but unless you personally configured everything you don't know.

Recently in the news it was reported that the department of national defense left hundreds of thousands of files on an AWS server.....with no password and there was another private company that was just hacked and same thing, 50 million+ pieces of customer data sitting on a well configured server but with no password.

I'm trusting these companies less my the minute.

airphoto.gr · « **Reply #256 on:** December 24, 2017, 04:53 »

If developers are interested, much of the work has already be done, in the open-source OpenBazaar project.

Maybe some tweaks are needed for stock photography and a search engine.
Payment is always in cryptocurrencies.

I assume eventually someone will do it. Then, in a few years, when clients learn about the search engine and get more accustomed with cryptocurrencies, it will never be the same.

Internet has removed the first generation of intermediaries, peer-to-peer blockchain technology will remove the second generation.

It's not even a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

mrzdesign · « **Reply #257 on:** January 16, 2018, 03:54 »

A very interesting thread for a newbie like me.

Jeffrey · « **Reply #258 on:** January 18, 2018, 03:39 »

Quote from: airphoto.gr on December 24, 2017, 04:53

If developers are interested, much of the work has already be done, in the open-source OpenBazaar project.

Maybe some tweaks are needed for stock photography and a search engine.
Payment is always in cryptocurrencies.

I assume eventually someone will do it. Then, in a few years, when clients learn about the search engine and get more accustomed with cryptocurrencies, it will never be the same.

Internet has removed the first generation of intermediaries, peer-to-peer blockchain technology will remove the second generation.

It's not even a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

I'm reading the features in their site, looks like they only accept crypto money and no Paypal?

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #259 on:** January 18, 2018, 05:43 »

Quote from: Jeffrey on January 18, 2018, 03:39

I'm reading the features in their site, looks like they only accept crypto money and no Paypal?

Well, yes, that is kind of the whole point of it.

mike_snaps · « **Reply #260 on:** April 06, 2018, 12:37 »

Greetings!

Wanted to share some updates about WireStock.

We recently launched our company website and the first version of the white paper ( in depth description of the project). Please check it out at wirestock.org . We tried to incorporate a lot of your previous feedback and questions into our vision.

Further feedback would be appreciated.

p.s. We also started working on the prototype version and will share with you as soon it is done.

THP Creative · « **Reply #261 on:** April 06, 2018, 14:10 »

Quote from: mike_snaps on April 06, 2018, 12:37

Greetings!

Wanted to share some updates about WireStock.

We recently launched our company website and the first version of the white paper ( in depth description of the project). Please check it out at www.wirestock.org . We tried to incorporate a lot of your previous feedback and questions into our vision.

Further feedback would be appreciated.

p.s. We also started working on the prototype version and will share with you as soon it is done.

I get a blank index page....

Not a good start.

mike_snaps · « **Reply #262 on:** April 06, 2018, 15:00 »

Quote from: Microstock Man on April 06, 2018, 14:10

Quote from: mike_snaps on April 06, 2018, 12:37
Greetings!

Wanted to share some updates about WireStock.

We recently launched our company website and the first version of the white paper ( in depth description of the project). Please check it out at www.wirestock.org . We tried to incorporate a lot of your previous feedback and questions into our vision.

Further feedback would be appreciated.

p.s. We also started working on the prototype version and will share with you as soon it is done.

I get a blank index page....

Not a good start.

Please try the link again or click here wirestock.org. Something went wrong with the formatting on the forum should work now.

tpack · « **Reply #263 on:** April 06, 2018, 16:08 »

Where is your Team/Company located? Yerevan, Armenia?

mj007 · « **Reply #264 on:** April 06, 2018, 21:39 »

Mike Snaps, not sure about block chain but I will give you an idea that might work. Work on AI and find out what the customer wants before the customer knows what they want. Talk to Facebook I think they are selling this kind of info. Although I think Zuck is in for a ride next week with congress.

mike_snaps · « **Reply #265 on:** April 08, 2018, 13:20 »

Quote from: mj007 on April 06, 2018, 21:39

Mike Snaps, not sure about block chain but I will give you an idea that might work. Work on AI and find out what the customer wants before the customer knows what they want. Talk to Facebook I think they are selling this kind of info. Although I think Zuck is in for a ride next week with congress.

We are actually going to use AI and Machine Learning. A lot of our R&D efforts will go into automation of image curation and selection processes using machine learning and computer vision technologies whereas blockchain is necessary for image copyright protection and direct trading/licensing.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #266 on:** April 09, 2018, 11:01 »

Quote from: mike_snaps on April 06, 2018, 12:37

Greetings!

Wanted to share some updates about WireStock.

We recently launched our company website and the first version of the white paper ( in depth description of the project). Please check it out at wirestock.org . We tried to incorporate a lot of your previous feedback and questions into our vision.

Further feedback would be appreciated.

p.s. We also started working on the prototype version and will share with you as soon it is done.

Are you creating your own tokens? How is it based on Etherium?

Say ETH was $850 in March and now it's $400, would someone who bought tokens in March be paying a higher price for the same work than someone who bought tokens yesterday. How about the artists. We get paid in tokens with a moving value? How do we turn them back into local currency that we can spend, to avoid value changes?

If we got paid in March and didn't immediately convert the tokens, then we would have lost half our pay.

Can you explain better how STOKEN will hold a value and when you said through Etherium blockchain, will we have MetaMask wallets for example or what?

mike_snaps · « **Reply #267 on:** April 10, 2018, 11:34 »

Quote from: Uncle Pete on April 09, 2018, 11:01

Quote from: mike_snaps on April 06, 2018, 12:37
Greetings!

Wanted to share some updates about WireStock.

We recently launched our company website and the first version of the white paper ( in depth description of the project). Please check it out at wirestock.org . We tried to incorporate a lot of your previous feedback and questions into our vision.

Further feedback would be appreciated.

p.s. We also started working on the prototype version and will share with you as soon it is done.

Are you creating your own tokens? How is it based on Etherium?

Say ETH was $850 in March and now it's $400, would someone who bought tokens in March be paying a higher price for the same work than someone who bought tokens yesterday. How about the artists. We get paid in tokens with a moving value? How do we turn them back into local currency that we can spend, to avoid value changes?

If we got paid in March and didn't immediately convert the tokens, then we would have lost half our pay.

Can you explain better how STOKEN will hold a value and when you said through Etherium blockchain, will we have MetaMask wallets for example or what?

Thanks for your questions!

Yes, STOKEN (STK) is an Ethereum-based utility token and we have solutions for the important questions you have raised.

1. Setting the prices: The prices of images will be set by contributors, with an ability to set the prices in fiat currencies (usd, euro, and etc.) which will be maintained in the system regardless of the fluctuations in the stoken price. This way, the contributor will be able to fix the price in a fiat currency although transactions will be in STK.
2. For registered contributors, withdrawal of STK will be possible at any time directly on our website as well as on third party exchanges. Users will be able to convert their stokens into ethers or bitcoins for any amount and to fiat currencies (usd, eur) in case of large withdrawals given stokens are earned through content licensing/sales. A similar solution will be used when onboarding image buyers who do not have stokens yet.
3. The value of stokens will depend on the demand for images offered through WireStock. Users will be able to use their metmask wallets on WireStock.

mike_snaps · « **Reply #268 on:** April 10, 2018, 11:37 »

Quote from: tpack on April 06, 2018, 16:08

Where is your Team/Company located? Yerevan, Armenia?

Our core team is based in Dubai, UAE.

jorgophotography · « **Reply #269 on:** April 10, 2018, 22:30 »

Hi Mike, What differentiates you from the current influx of blockchain stock projects like; https://www.wemark.com/ https://bitimage.io/ https://photochain.io/ https://kodakcoin.com/ http://creativechain.org/ https://selfllery.com/ https://www.pibble.io/

While i do believe there will be a disruptive breakthrough in the blockchain stock photo market. The question for me is, which one is going to offer me a return on my time uploading.

Photochain (although a noble project IMO) seems to be struggling to gain investments in its ICO. Although i suspect this to be due to the lack of incentives to investors (token only holds purchasing utility). How will you capture the interest of investors to garner enough funds for dev & mass marketing?

r2d2 · « **Reply #270 on:** April 11, 2018, 02:47 »

Congrats for launching Wirestock.org.
Time to kick ass the expensive agencies...

mike_snaps · « **Reply #271 on:** April 11, 2018, 11:02 »

Quote from: jorgophotography on April 10, 2018, 22:30

Hi Mike, What differentiates you from the current influx of blockchain stock projects like; https://www.wemark.com/ https://bitimage.io/ https://photochain.io/ https://kodakcoin.com/ http://creativechain.org/ https://selfllery.com/ https://www.pibble.io/

While i do believe there will be a disruptive breakthrough in the blockchain stock photo market. The question for me is, which one is going to offer me a return on my time uploading.

Photochain (although a noble project IMO) seems to be struggling to gain investments in its ICO. Although i suspect this to be due to the lack of incentives to investors (token only holds purchasing utility). How will you capture the interest of investors to garner enough funds for dev & mass marketing?

While our vision is to decentralize the stock image market and allow content creators to sell their content directly to buyers, we put tremendous focus on having a great product and providing outstanding user experience. We acknowledge the overall difficulty and challenges associated with actual usage of cryptocurrencies and blockchain based products. That is why it has been our goal to build a product where content buyer would enjoy shopping on not only because it is cheaper or more flexible but also because it provides seamless user experience just like on conventional websites. We are planning to achieve this by minimizing the requirements to interact with tokens for users who have not been exposed to crypto wallets and cryptocurrencies in general. We believe that you should not have to go to a cryptocurrency exchange if you just need to buy an image for your blog. The same approach will be used for content creators as mentioned in the above comment.

The other thing that differentiates us is the fact that we want to start with the community of stock photographers first. That is why we try to actively engage with you in this forum and other channels to have your inputs as we are building WireStock. In fact, your feedback so far has been superuseful and we hope to continue this discussion here. For example, we consid having a feature to allow buyers to request custom jobs or modifications from content creators. Would be awesome to hear your thoughts on this.

As the majority of the founding team members are from tech startup space and have experience raising funds for other startups, we are confident that we will be able to raise funds for WireStock. However, we try to talk to investors who are familiar with this space and understand the value of a decentralized marketplace for stock content. We try to stay away from typical speculative ICO investors and are looking for long term commitments.

mike_snaps · « **Reply #272 on:** April 11, 2018, 11:03 »

Quote from: r2d2 on April 11, 2018, 02:47

Congrats for launching Wirestock.org.
Time to kick ass the expensive agencies...

Thanks r2d2! May the force with us!

r2d2 · « **Reply #273 on:** April 11, 2018, 13:11 »

Quote from: mike_snaps on April 11, 2018, 11:03

Quote from: r2d2 on April 11, 2018, 02:47
Congrats for launching Wirestock.org.
Time to kick ass the expensive agencies...

Thanks r2d2! May the force with us!

your welcome.
Do you have a plan to challenge the EU-Vat?

jorgophotography · « **Reply #274 on:** April 11, 2018, 22:47 »

Quote from: mike_snaps on April 11, 2018, 11:02

Quote from: jorgophotography on April 10, 2018, 22:30
Hi Mike, What differentiates you from the current influx of blockchain stock projects like; https://www.wemark.com/ https://bitimage.io/ https://photochain.io/ https://kodakcoin.com/ http://creativechain.org/ https://selfllery.com/ https://www.pibble.io/

While i do believe there will be a disruptive breakthrough in the blockchain stock photo market. The question for me is, which one is going to offer me a return on my time uploading.

Photochain (although a noble project IMO) seems to be struggling to gain investments in its ICO. Although i suspect this to be due to the lack of incentives to investors (token only holds purchasing utility). How will you capture the interest of investors to garner enough funds for dev & mass marketing?

While our vision is to decentralize the stock image market and allow content creators to sell their content directly to buyers, we put tremendous focus on having a great product and providing outstanding user experience. We acknowledge the overall difficulty and challenges associated with actual usage of cryptocurrencies and blockchain based products. That is why it has been our goal to build a product where content buyer would enjoy shopping on not only because it is cheaper or more flexible but also because it provides seamless user experience just like on conventional websites. We are planning to achieve this by minimizing the requirements to interact with tokens for users who have not been exposed to crypto wallets and cryptocurrencies in general. We believe that you should not have to go to a cryptocurrency exchange if you just need to buy an image for your blog. The same approach will be used for content creators as mentioned in the above comment.

The other thing that differentiates us is the fact that we want to start with the community of stock photographers first. That is why we try to actively engage with you in this forum and other channels to have your inputs as we are building WireStock. In fact, your feedback so far has been superuseful and we hope to continue this discussion here. For example, we consid having a feature to allow buyers to request custom jobs or modifications from content creators. Would be awesome to hear your thoughts on this.

As the majority of the founding team members are from tech startup space and have experience raising funds for other startups, we are confident that we will be able to raise funds for WireStock. However, we try to talk to investors who are familiar with this space and understand the value of a decentralized marketplace for stock content. We try to stay away from typical speculative ICO investors and are looking for long term commitments.

Cheers Mike, appreciate the response.
The industry is in dire need of change.
I will be following your project closely.
Have a good one mate.

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Author Topic: Peer-to-peer direct stock selling platform (WireStock) (Read 169057 times)

increasingdifficulty

mediamasterrace

Sean Locke Photography

obj owl

mediamasterrace

mediamasterrace

airphoto.gr

mrzdesign

Jeffrey

increasingdifficulty

mike_snaps

THP Creative

mike_snaps

tpack

mj007

mike_snaps

Uncle Pete

mike_snaps

mike_snaps

jorgophotography

r2d2

mike_snaps

mike_snaps

r2d2

jorgophotography

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