Panel 2 Q&A

Q. If people are going to have their phone turned on and absorbed into an ad hoc network, there should be some sort of reward or benefit--

Tim Forde: The problem is that is a completely different business model, which is anathema to the existing companies.

Q. On the alternative business models, I'm in the process of putting a business plan together, but there are none that exist to my knowledge, if you'd know of any...

TF: I'm afraid not.

Q. What is the position of RTE making the archives available to download?

Anne O'Connor: We have actually something in place and started - we have a deal in place with the producers for materials, and so much of the material is already on digital already. On the website, we have clips etc - its not ideal, but it's a start. But we've started and we'll continue.

Q. The RTE website is vey disappointing - not a personal criticism - the audio archives, for example, are badly edited.

A O'C: Under the legislature, we cannot use public or commercial money on the website. The website can only be funded by itself - that means it has to make money, hence the advertisements, and the poor editing. I agree with you, but there are reasons.

Q. As I understand it, RTE automatically takes all of the rights for exploitation from Independent Producers, even on the website. Is there any plans to adopt the BBC modelof rights-sharing?

A O'C: All I can say is that RTE is undergoing a lot of change, particularly in the interactive sector. I am optimistic, however.

posted by Brian Caffrey @ 4:22 PM