Doc Searls found Hollywood's not-so-secret agenda for the future of digital media on the web (Digital Hollywood Agenda - Los Angeles 2002). To get a good overview of Hollywood's view of the issue, you really should read all the session descriptions. This is my favorite description of one of the panels (VOD-SVOD - The 500 Channel DTV Universe Is Here! Beginning the Rollout of New Content and Services):
Arguably as important as the VCR or even cable itself, the arrival of DTV, with its ability to deliver virtually unlimited subscription content, has poised the entertainment industry on the precipice of massive growth. For a decade, industry leaders have speculated on the future of the 500 channel universe and now it is here. With DTV rolling out in communities across the country, the opportunity to innovate, to offer unique and exciting subscription and VOD packages will be the ongoing challenge for the industry. The entire universe of pay services will be up for grabs in the coming five years. The combination of new technologies, new services, new partnerships, content innovation, aggressive marketing, not to mention new investment will remake the landscape. DTV is the next assault on network programming and consumer habits. It is nothing short of being the future.
I like how they refer to an "assault on ... consumer habits." Sign me right up! Forget all the other advantages of DTV, it is the ability to deliver subscription content that is important. Sheesh. We can get all the subscription content we want right now ... it's called satellite and digital cable. They're not thinking innovation, they're thinking brand extension. The ideas expressed here are about as innovative as Almond M&Ms.
It is interesting to note some of the things missing from the discussion. For example, the panel on home networking talks about "an as yet to be determined tablet" (huh?) and "telewebbing device" (double huh?), but does not mention Personal Media Recorders, like TiVo or ReplayTV (The Networked Home & the Connected Consumer - How Technology Transforms the Future). PMRs will be discussed in some of the seminar panels, but this is a "Digital Hollywood Supersession."
It's nice how the panel on the possibility of government intervention blithely assumes a "need for copyright protection standards in Internet-enabled PCs" (Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley - Will the Federal Government Decide?). With such an assumption it is no wonder that, oppressed by Silicon Valley and "[d]etermined to be heard, Hollywood has enlisted an audience in Washington for mandatory protection standards, has issued a number of governance proceedings, and has drawn fire from several consumer groups in the process." Drawn fire? What is this? Afghanistan?
This panel also asks the important question, "What interim steps can be taken to accelerate the development of legitimate digital distribution businesses, both on and off the Internet?" Umm...I don't know... legitimate distribution of digital content in the form of DVDs and CDs seems to be doing pretty good
Strangely blind to the potential for new non-Hollywood sources of content, one panel forsees a soothing (to Hollywood executives at least) future where "consumer loyalty will be more analogous to making the difficult choice from among favorite deserts then choices of lifestyle" (Networks vs. Cable/Satellite vs. Internet vs. Games vs. Mobile - Irreversible Fragmentation or Massive Market Expansion).
Regular readers of LawMeme will not be surprised that the panel on digital rights management "will try to understand the problems of content management and the needs of the respective sectors of the industry," but will not discuss the rights or desires of consumers (Digital Rights Management - Business Models, Secure Streaming, Secure Subscriptions & Download, Secure Pay Per View Technology Solutions).
Personal Media Recorders finally get a little attention in an afternoon seminar (Set-Top Box as Entertainment Super Appliance: PVR, ISP, PPV, MP3 Receiver and More). Unfortunately, they are seen as nothing more than a fancy way to receive what Hollywood wants to sell you, "DTV will arrive in the form of a new set-top box that will, first and most important, have the ability to deliver unlimited digital programming, delivered from servers at the satellite, cable or Internet headend." Hmmmm, so much for P2P ... all content will be delivered from Hollywood-controlled servers of one sort or another.
If Hollywood ran the Internet, one of the things they would definitely control would be all search engines and indexes. Hollywood certainly doesn't like the idea of people finding content that major content companies neither own nor control. Of course, we would think it was crazy if Hollywood controlled all the major search engines - they would never develop things as efficient (and subversive) as Google or the Open Directory Project. Hollywood disagrees of course and isn't going to make the same mistake with DTV (Interactive TV/DTV Middleware Solutions). Middleware in this case is another word for "search engine" and "portal."
A similar panel is quite open about Hollywood's goals: "[h]e who controls the gateway will have massive influence over the entire viewing experience, effecting [sic] advertising, commerce as well as the ability of the viewer to receive programming." Don't fret though, consumer interests will be paramount: "[t]he ITV/DTV portal will not be a simple product, but will more likely emerge from the relationships between the TV programmers, advertisers and technology manufacturers." Ooops, I guess consumer interests aren't part of the development of the portal (ITV/DTV Portals - Entry Point to Content, E-Commerce and the Television Interface). Goodbye Yahoo! hello, Go.com (a division of the Walt Disney Internet Group).
This panel wins the award for most misleading description (Home Entertainment Servers: Set-Top vs. PC-Centric Solutions):
[The] battle for the home will be a tremendous winner for both the consumer as well as for the content industry. It presents the simple proposition that offering the consumer more and richer services in a competitive environment is the perfect formula for success.
Sounds great ... but does anyone really think that there is going to be a long term "competitive environment" in the home if Hollywood has anything to do with it? Compare and contrast the above with this (surprisingly honest) panel description, "[b]roadband has been the holy grail for the entertainment industry for years, but what it represents today, is the reality of locking in millions of users" (VC and Investment in the Entertainment - Technology Space, Part I).
This may be the most optimistic panel (Music Industry: Subscription Services, Satellite, Internet Radio and other Services):
This is the year of the rollout of music services. After the lawsuits, after the technology innovation, after the consolidation, after the first attempts at music subscription, we will in this session, try to evaluate what the new music industry is going to look like. The era of digital music delivery is here, but the details of how the industry will be structured are still confusing. There will undoubtedly be new trials, new tests, new and great offers to the consumer, and finally the day will arrive when we will begin to understand, in a post all-free Napster environment - how to satisfy the appetite of the music consumer. Monetizing a product that has been free will not be easy, but it is coming.
The above are simply some of the highlights of the session descriptions, I recommend reading them all for a good overview of Hollywood's perspective on our ongoing technological transformation. Understand the enemy.