As a decentralized platform, you should be able to give the users rights and duties. Because as you said in the video for YouTubers the most valuable thing is their followers. So, in this logic of building a decentralized platform, one of the duties of the users could be running the blockchain network. Maybe design something that allows every user to help the security of the network when is watching videos on this platform. In the other way as a right, you could design a token that every user can give when they are pleased with the content, something like thumbs up or claps, but that have real value for the âYouTuberâ.
I would put all the videos in a centralized database so we donât have any major problems with storage. Then put all the monetization and reward stuff in a blockchain so we have a balance here, where this part regulates the centralized system of the videos, and so there is no censorship. Incentives should and must be the main part to maintain this project going.
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The best way to approach this according to me would be by using different BC and Open Source technologies.
- Storage : We can use open source distributed database technologies like HDFS. As they have proven to be very efficient and can be scaled out very easily by using commodity hardware. Then the question is where is it actually stored? For this we can incentivise users on the platform to share some storage which gets managed in a decentralised way. Something like STORJ, RIF etc. We can add redundancies to make it more fault tolerant. Will have to give more thought on how this can achieved to make sure quality of and user experience is not compromised. But I know we can achieve this.
- Persona Management : Content Producers, Content Consumers, advertisers & Storage providers. We can use public blockchains for this as this will be the best way to achieve openness, transparency & immutability.
- Monetization: We can use Token economics for this. Also by integrating into Defi . Content producers, viewers and storage providers will get incentivised based on the level of participation.
- Security : By using cryptography. More thought required here. There are various options depending upon the overall architecture.
- Governance : Token holders will have power to decide how the upgrades and changes are rolled out.
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There are many issues that exist with the current YouTube platform but I feel the biggest issue is centralization. The fact that a central organization can control, sensor, ban and change content plus having the ability to modify the payment structure for advertisers and content creators as they see fit. Although in saying that YouTube did come up with the idea and took on all the risk so are entitled to do what they want if people wish to use it.
A new decentralized platform would need revenue while it is being adopted to pay for overhead so capital needs to be raised in advance through a whitepaper / token sale with a coin issued as incentive for both early adopters nodes and investors⌠This coin could be used throughout the platform (with governing and voting rights on topics like appropriate content etc.) and also used as a means of payment for viewers, advertisers and creators alike plus it could be used to pay for overhead (like data storage).Data storage costs if separate from the blockchain could be a challenge but with a smart contract and trusted oracle service it could receive data from off chain and allocate the payment to the hosting site as the content grows and then collectively the token holders could vote on how the rest is is to be distributed.
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I would like to see some kind of governance / consensus when it comes to censoring video content rather than having one person behind the scene shadow banning content. Also creating a smart contract with various algorithms when it comes to the monetization of these videos so there can be a common payout structure that is understood by all creators.
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Creating a fairer video sharing marketplace is an interesting challenge. YouTube is a household name, and a tome of information that creates and distributes value across the globe. What are its flaws? Weaknesses? Challenges? How can we improve it? Without a lot of specific knowledge about the business model or inner workings, I can still surmise a few potential improvements.
Problems: Centralized Database containing content = potential point of failure. Censorship Capabilities = some users/types of content may be discriminated against. Advertising creates opportunity to disseminate malware or targeted data collection. Compensation may be slow, unequal, or unfair with dispersion of advertising revenue.
What should be decentralized? First and foremost, the rules regarding content and obscenities/disinformation should be agreed upon in a decentralized manner. Dispersement of advertising revenues needs to be transparent and fair based upon an agreed consensus of content providers. Also the library of videos should be always available, as the viewing of this content is vital to the business people who create and produce it.
What should not be decentralized? personal information and financial records relating to payment should be kept to the utmost of security standards. Also user information for viewers should be securely stored away from public record as to ensure viewer safety. Compensation is always a delicate subject, especially under new international AML TF guidelines. It must be very well researched so as to prevent any one entity involved in the business model to be labeled a DIGITAL ASSET SERVICE PROVIDER.
We have quite a conundrum here. Primarily, the most important asset being distributed on the platform is the Digital Media. Any interruption of the availability of this content is potentially harmful to the content creators. Finding a means of compressing/archiving the files in an efficient manner is paramount. The use of centralized database brings upon the inherent risk of a single pint of failure. Therefore i would suggest a hybrid solution to the content issue.
Here is the structure I propose
Formation of a DAO for all content creators. the DAO will handle governance and rules, and dispersement of any advertising revenues. This will be on the public blockchain. The DAO will maintain a centralized database with cryptographically protected silos that securely house all personal and private information regarding content creators and users. A private blockchain will be developed with CA verified permission based certificates to allow roles and permissions to access various channels within the private blockchain as users, creators, administrators etc. Content will be stored in multiple locations. initially new content will stored in a manner consistent with tradition YouTube methods, but over time will be compressed and moved to the blockchain in the form of archives which can be accessed by subscription only. Additionally, content creators will need to run nodes of their own if they wish to continue to create revenue streams with content of a certin age. The content they create and upload onto the platform will be granted digital certificates, and can be stored on the creators node and made available in the event that the centralized database or archives fail or become inaccessible. All advertising revenues will be distributed and documented in the public blockchain, while other forms of compensation based on number of views, tips or other methods will be recorded in a standard more traditional database format, and any direct payment of tips will be administered directly to the content creators digital wallet via the currency chosenâs public blockchain infrastructure.
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- Censorship: content will be public and not restricted/stored to a single database/country/owner
- Copyright: can transverse the blockchain to verify who is the real owners of the content
- Payments/donation: can use payment systems or crypto tokens to incentivise content creators. E.g. BAT or DLive
- Follower/audience level subscriptions: can create different permissioned channels to present different content to audience based on their level or following maturity/seniority
- Ownership: if blockchain is public, the content creator has full control of their product (no âcentralâ owner of the database). Node or server providers storing the content could be incentivised for doing so (by being paid from the content creators)
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Hello,
I have a few questions here that unfortunately I havenât really been able to clarify for myself, even after this course.
a) How can you trust in the stakeholders that they have updated the correct datas (treatment, conditions, locations or place of origin) via application to the blockchain? In this lecture we argument that the customer gets the transparency, but is still not sure if the datas are correct. In this case I still do not see the trust aspect improved. Why should the datas suddenly be more trustfull then on a database? Only because there is no central autorithy anymore?
b) I still donât see why all this solutions (supply chain) can not be build on a normal database. To bring all the stakeholders datas in a common data structure could also work with an API and a database! Where is the benefit of the blockchain? This could also happen with an open database!
I am very thankful for some comments as I stuck here a bit 
Hyperldger in Business
- I will use the Ethereum blockchain platform as it allows different applications to be build on its platfom
- the different applications are the content providers themselves producing the videos.
- the applications ( content providers) will each have hyperledgers that provide each ledger with its own customer database and identity of users of its services.
- an API will be created to interact between the hyperledger and the frontend.
- frontend will provide the end users with an interface to watch videos or contents.
- adverts revenue will be paid directly to the content provider at the application level.
With this type of platform, I believe all content, database and revenues are owned and controlled by the content providers. The Ethereum blockchain will only be providing the platform for different application to be launched and providing smart contract for the content providers for use by the end users.
You watch videos, you like, you subscribe or You are content with quantity of subscribers and willing to place adverts.
All using a smart contract, trustless, transparent and partially controlled in terms of identity.
Hey @Danielito, hope you are well.
Lets see this way, a item goes into a verification process, if everything is ok, the result will be added to the blockchain (meaning, this item has been approved to be perfectly functional). It is more secure than a normal database because once its added to the blockchain, it canât be modified (like in a normal database), if something goes wrong, you canât modify the last entrance, you will have to create a new one informing about an update of the last entrance. (meaning, is more transparent since you can track the historic changes of the data). Since there is no central authority, you have to trust that all participants reach consensus on which data is valid, if they donât (or a portion of it), the data could not be appended.
The immutability property of the blockchain is the advantage against a normal database. You can modify a data on a normal database, if there is something you dont like, you just deleted/modified it, but in blockchain, you canât, you will have to create a new entrance to inform about the updates of a previous data, meaning more transparency on the supply chain process.
If you have any more questions, please let us know so we can help you! 
Carlos Z.
Why do I feel like Ivan and team are hoping one of us will give viable solution so they can build it!?..haha
Iâd be looking at storing the videos on a central server using traditional IT infrastructure, then using blockchain to secure the video titles, thumbnails(?) and links to videos. Users could browse the blockchain to find content they want and would either already have access (granted prior) or have it granted by the owner (subscription?). Private/public key encryption could verify age appropriateness and whether paid or free and finally grant access to content.
This would require quick access with low tx fees to content. Advertisers could pay the network and creators to promote ads with hot links that users could instantly purchase their products. Viewers would have an easy way to send monetary support to their favorite contributors.
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Videos keeps on central DataBase. Customers could buy the videos or premium services with crypto and thatâs all about crypto I will do in this kind of business.
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The idea with this assignment is more likely to start challenge you to think has a blockchain business manager, you have to be the âGo toâ person when it comes to design or help in blockchain projects 
.
Carlos Z.
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Since my life is all about esports now, I might already have experienced the bumpy road of a content creator. Like Filip mentioned in the video, content creators rely a lot on YouTube or if you are a gamer or in esports, it is always Twitch or Facebook. As a esports athlete or gamer, you spend a lot of time creating content. You have to do nice gameplays, for example, then you might have to stream, show your expressions, then edit with your resources, find the right music or create them, etc. but then upload to a 3rd party and hope that viewers will enjoy somehow your piece of art.
Thatâs all for the intro and ranting for now.
The opportunity that hasnât been explored properly up to today is how to improve the rewards for the content creators. There has been new social media platforms popping up offering token rewards that allows streamers or content creators exchange for other cryptocurrencies and eventually back to fiat but the popularity for these new options has not managed to beat YouTube or Twitch, for gamers, for example.
My suggestions for the immediate potential adoption of cryptocurrency, in a large scale, is (dreamlike, but not impossible):
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Integrate direct donations and rewards in cryptocurrencies into most popular platforms like YouTube, Twitch and Facebook or other platforms, if it is in China. This potentially solves accountability issues that streamers or content creators face and speeds up the payments in general. For some platforms, instead of relying the company that owns or operates them to handle the payments, let the users themselves do the job. The platform can always take a very small fair cut and operate like an exchange. To facilitate conversion, APIs can be integrated into the platform and help the earners convert back to fiat - yes, many will still need to convert back to fiat today;
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Content doesnât have to be on blockchain. Content creators should own their assets and decide where to save or keep their work;
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On the blockchain level, âidentification IDâ of such content links to the content creator, to prevent plagiarism, unless the creator gives consent. KYC can be an option, if some content creators require even more assurance;
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To be most fair to content creators, metrics such as reach, engagements, follows, variables like that should eventually become unified, in a standardized formula so sponsors, supporters and marketers can price the contents properly in a unified way. Right now, take the âreachâ metric as an example, what one reads in the analytics of a produced content on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook + traditional media + Chinese social media, etc. could be totally different meaning, which creates a lot of misconceptions. Some might look super good using marketing bots and escalate the numbers, just like in traditional media that uses the maximum potential/expected reach in many cases. This is a big issue to be solved and if such transparency could be on blockchain, standardized, with great consensus, I strongly believe it will not only benefit the content creators in all areas but also help in general statistics, accuracy of those companies who release analysis reports and even help brands which are interested to use the content creators to promote make more efficient decisions (sorry, I got carried off).
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More in Esports / Gaming: blockchain, KYC and identity management and verification to prevent cheating in tournaments. Tournaments involving large incentives such as high money prizes attract cheaters. Through blockchain, higher transparency can be achieved or enable better tracking if such situations arise.
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I also think conversations related to contents (e.g. chats next to YouTube videos) can be on blockchain. This can help us all to track spammers, scammers and improve the quality of the chats + metrics (see No. 4 above) and thus improve the chances of having the best followers engage on your chats and/or content - customer satisfaction. We shouldnât forget that our followers and those who like are our customers and audience that could be converted to monetary value!
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Personalized graphics can also be on blockchain linked to content creators. Not talking about videos here, but things like icons, gifs, memes, that one spams into chats, banners and everything that makes your channel/website shine, made by the creator or purchased. Things like this should be unique owned (NFTs?) and with the option for other people to use in any social media, but with a reward system implemented that gives back tokens to the content creator. Imagine if you are a hardcore fan of a sports team or a religion or whatever and you spam the icons or things that are related to the organization or idea you support and you are helping such org (or even reward a bit to yourself) by doing such actions that, in reality, we do everyday in multiple APPs? Dreamlike. Same concept can also be considered to be applied in the current hashtags in the posts we make. Of course will increase the spam of the hashtags but will amplify content reach. Now, what if hashtags immediately grab the NFTs on the blockchain and do all this brainstorm that I have shoot out in No.7? This way we donât have to reinvent the wheel, a new platform of the platforms but on the other hand attempt to integrate/link what we already currently have on the market and exploit the opportunities.
Sorry Filip, I might have not done this exercise properly and drifted away, but these are the current issues that can be exploited in the Esports / Gaming / Content Creator / blockchain market I live in. Speaking from the heart as one of the esports brand IP creators, one that compete in Esports and one who help our non-profit esports organization everyday. I didnât dwell into politics and different governments mindset here and try to explain my views why the above might be one of the most straight forward ways to speed up adoption. I donât want to make readers fall asleep here haha!
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I can see two major issues in respect of Youtube-businesses:
- Youtuber can be deleted by Youtube and as a consequence loose all their customers.
Tracking customers on a blockchain could guarantee access to this customerbase. - Youtube-clips can be banned by Youtube-authorities (usually on an AI mechanism) - Youtube followers could be integrated in the process of eventual banning (governance process).
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I have many ideas of itâŚ
It could be like
- Creating a token to monetize the creators to not depend of the platform.
- Creating a gadget at the top of the video to pay the person whoâs doing the video.
- To modify the platform to get paid when the people finish the video, liking or commenting
I would like to leave decentralized because in that format, people can do its own use and performing the way they want to.
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-The parts I would do decentralized are;
- The Memberships and all Accounts
- The Policy(free to choose which one feets the best)
- Likes, Shares, Views
To have the authenticity in the users, the links to the uploader as the links of who liked what.
-The part I would let centralized is;
- The video upload, due to the large size it takes.
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So firstly I would keep the videos and the front end interface on a SQL centralized database, the part that would be decentralized would be that when people want to put an ad on the video platform they will send money to the platform smart contract and the smart contract will put the money in a defi liquidity pool where interest will be gained the interest will be shared between content providers depending on how many views they have in the form of a unique token of the video platform, some money in the pool each month will be send to the creator of the platform. The content providers will have a erc20 wallet connected to their accounts and users will be able to connect theirs too, so if the content providers want to send some money to their fans they will be able to do so!
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Great questionâŚ
I would consider putting the userâs (content creators and viewers) identifiable information on blockchain. This data is not typically used by the video platform, thus would not reduce its performance, but would increase the security and integrity of this data.
I would like also include the monetization scheme on blockchain which would add a layer of transparency for those earn their living on such platforms.
I would leave the videos, likes, and comments on regular databases as these are regularly accessed and are not necessarily of a sensitive nature. Furthermore, keeping these off blockchain would keep the performance of the website on an acceptable level (i.e⌠not being slowed down by trying to access the data from the chain). Videos also typically take a large amount of space, these would not be good candidates for blockchain distribution as their sheer size would make the website incredibly slow.
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If I should think about building a streaming video platform, I will centralize the video db which are very heavy; I will decentralize and put on a blockchain the watching data, the followers and the rewarding payment based on watching data, so they can be transparent and traced. I will also create a token to make those payments and to get the money from ads.
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