| HONG
KONG: The HK Filmart at Hong Kong concluded with a session on 'Digital Revolution'.
The panel consisting of Jaman senior vice-president of operations Carlos Montalvo,
MPAA senior vice president and regional director Apac Mike Ellis, NDS chief engineer
Paul Jackson, Movie Producers and Distributors Association of Hong Kong Tony Shu
discussed the implications of digital distribution over the internet, and how
content can be protected and rights managed.
The panelists reached
an unanimous agreement on the new models of distribution coming in like the mobile,
digital theatres, internet peer to peer sharing, streaming. In fact Montalvo talked
in length about Jaman which had set up a social networking site revolving around
legally licensed movies which would help develop stickiness for Asian cinema to
start with. He said that Jaman had built in several models to make it work: from
low resolution advertising-driven viewing to pay per view and pay per download
high resolution viewing. It was an interesting debate where Montalvo's
observations were preceded by Shu who said that investors' interest in the film
business was dropping because of piracy issues with downloads on the internet
on the rise. "There is a lack
of clarity on regulation on this front. But the courts in Hong Kong have given
the authorities permission to access personal records of suspected pirates and
take the strictest against them. We have to come up with legislation to control
this. Only if the laws are improved will the investor confidence rise," said
Shu. He also added that in China and Hong Kong some producers were making internet
revenues a part of their revenue stream.
NDS chief engineer Asia Pac
Paul Jackson pointed out the various modes of security provided by his company
and also demonstrated the basics of making content secure. Jackson also pointed
out studies had shown that consumers are willing to pay for content as long as
they are paying a fair price for what they are buying. Also the consumer should
be in a position to move around the content for personal consumption and for his
immediate family.
Ellis used the Hollywood example to state that the
movie industry is undergoing a drastic change. "Theatrical revenues have
fallen to just 16 per cent of revenues, with 47.1 per cent coming from home entertainment,
28 per cent from TV and 9 per cent from pay TV," he said. Peer to peer sharing
had become a worrisome factor as well. "We have made arrests in several countries,"
he said.
He was of the belief the movie industry was accepting the reality
of the changes and that the market would grow. "Technology has never stopped
growth of an industry, in fact it has only enhanced growth," he said. | 
