reverse auctioning of download slots

[kongo09]

Everyone agrees that OTR is a smart idea. But everyone also agrees that the whole download thing is a pain.
- The managers of OTR have high cost for traffic
- The managers of OTR obviously like some sort of payments (paypal, Micro$), but don't want to appear to rip off users
- The users find it increasingly difficult to get download slots and might have to try for hours, which leads to high frustration
- Even paying users are not guaranteed an immediate download slot, which adds to the frustration and reduces willingness to pay
- Prices during rush hour seem to fluctuate in a non-transparent way

I'd like to suggest the following solution:

Let's think about a reverse auctioning of download slots, coupled with a random allocation of a certain percentage of traffic, e.g. 20%. Generally, we have two types of users:
- Users with time
- Users with money

The users with money can be served by reverse auctioning the slots. Users would enter a bid. The system queues all users according to bids. As soon as a slot becomes available, the sytem picks the user with the highest bid for the next slot. The result is published on the site, so that users can adjust their bids, if they like.

Those users with low bids would have to wait until everyone with higher bids has been served. By displaying a one week winning bid profile in hourly steps as a graph, people get a feel at what times the lower bids might succeed. The logic is simple: you bid low, you wait long. You bid highest, you succeed as quickly as possible.

In addition, users can also queue up without a bid. These people would always end up at the end of the queue. Generally, if users can't be sorted according to bids, they should be sorted according to waiting time. The longer you wait, the better your chances are.

These free riders will only get a slot when all paying users have been served. If OTR desires to do some free-serving, the capacity set aside for free-serving could be allocated at random. The random picking would have to be done from all users in the whole queue: paying and non-paying. If you are picked at random, you never pay.

My feeling is that with such a system, everyone's interests are addressed. Free riders can still download, but have to wait for all others or the luck of randomness. Paying users can control speed with their willingness to pay. The managers of OTR get a more stable source of revenue.

Let's open the floor for discussion!
kongo09

[kongo09]

A bid is an offer for payment. When you enter a sum at eBay to win an item, you are effectively bidding for that item. The higher your bid, the more likey your success. In German: Gebot.

[doofkopp]

Another solution could be to share all recordings immediately over eMule and/or torrent. New recordings could be blocked for FREE direct download for about 1-2 days. M$ and paypal would be the only way to get a fast direct download for new recordings.

[kongo09]

The problem with that approach is, that eventually (with a bit of wait) everything will be free and downloadable. But we have this capacity constraint, which makes this impossible. For some downloads to be ready right away and available right away, some others always have to wait. That means, some will never be available for downloading, because they're just too far in the back of the queue.

See, if we have a download capacity of 100 films and demand for 150 films per day, there will always be 50 films per day that never make it. Waiting a long time doesn't solve the problem, because next day we again have 50 films that don't make it. The numbers add up.

kongo09

[kongo09]

The problem with emule and torrent is that this can always only be a complement. Many users don't have machines that run 24 hours a day, e.g. Laptop or business machine users. People using business machines will most likely not be allowed to install emule and friends. There should be a solution that serves everybody.

kongo09

[Seattlite]

Why not just have a monthly subscription fee for this site? This is a wonderful site and well worth supporting.
BTW, what does FIFO stand for?

[Menno]

Original von kongo09

However, as I outlined, it doesn't solve the problem of undercapacity. The queue simply keeps growing and at one stage the backlog gets ridiculous.

No. Since OTR dropped simpsons and voyager from direct download (mirrors only) it will solve the capacity problems. Also there will be more capacity in a while.

This is where payment should come in. People willing to pay should be able to jump the queue at any time. As willingness to pay varies over time and according to FIFO queue length, the system could display the current price to jump to the top.

This is actually working in rush hour. Since rush hour expanded to 06:00AM to 01:00AM (middle european time) you can pay all the day. Only 5 hours in the night are reserved for free downloading only.
Prices also vary depending on filesize (microdollar) or used capacity of the download server (paypal).

[Administrator]

Thx again kongo for your ideas! I hope we have realized it in a way you are happy with.. I hope I can close the thread now. We have a thread discussing the experience for the queue system here:

http://www.forum.onlinetvrecorder.co...pic.php?t=1233