>> host: the northern virginia area of washington, d.c. is a hub of high-tech companies, and recent lay conference called the digital media conference was held there where a lot of these companies got together and talked about some of the issues that they face in this current economic environment and about

some of their new products the caters did several interviews with participants, and we want to show you some of those on "the communicators." firstoff, we talk with the organizer of the conference, then we spoke with cookie ant some of the -- about some of the investments his company is making and some of the products you may see on your shelves. rick cotton, executive vice presidentover nbc universal also spoke with us about some of the regulatory issues his company faces, and finally we spoke with dena kaplan about their product and business model and where they see their growth. all this week on "the communicators." ned sherman is with us. he is a co-founder of digital media wire, what is digital media wire? >> guest: we're a publication

covering digital transmission, audio/visual, stils, photographer ri. >> host: and what are these conferences you put on, and why do you put them on? >> guest: there's a real need in the industry to focus on business models, legal issues, financing surrounding digital media, so we're really a forum for bringing together the top executives in entertainment, media and technology companies to geart, focus on industry -- gather, focus on industry issues as well as to provide a forum for deal making. >> host: and what kind of trends are you seeing in digital media. >> guest: i think it's social media. it's really taken off, and this year's been fascinating. we've seen facebook overtake myspace as now the top trafficked social network, we've also seen the emergence of twitter which hardly existed a year ago and is now the third most trafficked social media destination. >> host: how do you make money

with twitter? >> guest: that is the million dollar question. i mean, i think -- and there's a lot of focus on that issue right now. and we've seen facebook get into a little trouble with this issue, too, because they're trying to bring ads into that community, serve up ads for that community, and in that process they're also getting more aggressive with what they're doing with the data that they're taking for the community that uses, uses facebook. we just saw this a couple of months ago when they attempted to change their terms of service, and there was nothing short of a revolt on the part of users to those efforts. >> host: is it fair to say that craig's list is old media? >> guest: good question. [laughter] i think craig's list, the phenomena has been one of the most significant developments that we've seen, you know, over the last five years. craig's list is now about $100 million business, but it's basically destroyed a $2 billion

classified business that the newspapers use to, as the support and life cord of its business. so, you know, i wouldn't understate what craig's list has done by any means. >> host: here at this conference are we seeing established companies or start-up companies? are you seeing a trend in either direction? >> guest: it's a healthy mix. i mean, we're seeing established companies, big media put it that way, you know, coming here and trying to understand how they can tap into what has been success. on the part of start-up companies in this space. there's no secret that a lot of the companies that have really been able to seize on the opportunities in digital media have been disruptive to big media and have been able to do it in a leaner, meaner fashion, so i think big media's trying to figure out where they can profit in digital media.

>> host: when you bring together these business folks, we're here in washington, outside of washington, do you bring the fcc in or legislators to talk about trends in congress also? >> guest: i mean, good question. on occasion we do. at this particular event, the focus really is more on business models. but, you know, if you were, you know, in the room during some of the last sessions, there's a lot of discussion about what's going on with the obama administration, new appointees coming in, you know, how is this going to, what are going to be the big issues coming up in digital media from a policy stand point, a lot of lawsuits out there as well that can change or make or break a company, so, yeah, these issues are central to business models. sphwhrs ned sherman, digital media wire. thank you. >> guest: thank you. >> host: well, you've probably been to your local best buy store, but you might not have

heard of best buy capital. we're here at the digital media conference in virginia, and he's vice president. >> guest: it's basically a small team at best buy that makes investments on behalf of best buy. >> host: so when kind of purchases are you making these days? what are you looking at? >> guest: well, you know, anything that essentially touches a consumer and technology are areas where we have interest in. and as a result we've made investments or had investment positions in companies like netflix, shutterfly, virgin mobile, etc. we have a portfolio probably of ant 15 companies that we're -- about 15companys that we're actively managing. sphwhrs why would best bayh an interest? netflix? >> guest: sure. first of all, these are minority investments, but part of the reason why we do that is because

if you look at our business, it's really dependent upon technology life cycles, so the more we can encourage the adoption of new technologies, new services, the better it is for our core business because we feel that we can exhale execute on that -- exhale execute on that from a retail perspective. and a lot of times there's a lot of vested interest in place that don't necessarily want to see new things come into play earlier than maybe they're ready for or the rest of the ecosystem could be ready for, so we want to act as a catalyst for new technologies that benefit consumers in a way that provides new value. >> host: so what is a product that we might see on the shelves of best buy that your best buy capital has invested in? >> guest: well, it's difficult to get into the specifics of that, but i can give you an example where we made an investment in a, in a voiceover

ip related company that i can't disclose who it is, but it's a very significant driver of that for us today. so that's an example. netflix would be an older example of a company that essentially we took a small investment position in very early on in the company and actually helped build that business to a substantial business which is public today. >> host: where's the growth in i.t. and in electronics? >> guest: that's a good question. i mean, it's not a business or it's not an industry -- well, there are very few growth industries these days, but i would say we feel that there are some opportunities as it relates to making things simpler. so if you look at a lot of the products and services that will be coming out, we believe the emphasis will be on value and simplification of things. so, for example, some of the voiceover ip kind of topics that i just talked about, that's

making things affordable, simple and easy to use. we also see a pretty interesting opportunity as it relates to digital media. obviously, there's a transition going on. the key question is how do you make money with all the different constituents within the ecosystem and can we build a business model around that? >> host: we've talked to a lot of folks here today that have talked about mobile technology. is there large growth there, also, in your view? >> guest: clearly, if you look at the press, we've made a pretty bold statement in saying that we're going to substantially accelerate our mobile business. i think the real question there for consumers, however, isn't, you know, we'll grow our business by selling more devices, obviously, and services etc., but the real question is how do you really accelerate that growth? and i think there are some fundamental changes that may need to take place. as of right now, strictly kuk's opinion here, the strangle hold that is within the carrier

networks makes it very difficult for certain types of services, innovate i service -- innovative services to actually arise, so we're hopeful with the entry of the android platform and other people that are more i would say internet and open oriented enter into the mobile space, that that begins to change. but it's still a very difficult environment for smaller, innovative companies to actually make money in. >> host: and finally, you're here in washington, home of the regulators, have you learned anything on this trip? >> guest: i've learned i'm a bit of a fish out of water. what's fascinating is sort of the intersection of technology and public policy. and so i was at a dinner last night where, you know, a lot of that discussion was going on. half the individuals that i met with had at least some history either within the government or within the lobbying environment, so that's a bit of a difference for me, and it really showed to me as well how public policy to some -- well, to a large extent

has an impact in terms of industry, and this was one of, this was a conference where that really, that was really opened up to me. >> host: well, what is your background in the business world? >> guest: i have a checkered background, so i've been in various geographies, have spent time both here on the east coast, grew up in hawaii in my former life, spent a lot of time in the bay area, spent a stint overseas in korea working on venture investments and then wound up in minneapolis working for best buy. so, you know, bit of a checkered history here and there but very consistently i'd say within sort of the intersection of consumer and finance. technology and finance. >> host: is there a growth in what you do here for best buy capital in the u.s., or is it an international scene for you? >> guest: well, i mean, technically we, we'll look at investments everywhere, so we would like to, i'd like to be more proactive actually because

the reality is i think if you look at where the markets are going, there's going to be a lot of growth outside the u.s. we're now, i won't say we're a global company, but we're much more international. we have a very significant business in china both from a best buy branded store, we also acquired a company in china that is a multimillion dollar company right now. we did a deal in europe where we have access to the retail business, so we have a pretty substantial international presence, and my belief is that innovation happens everywhere, and it's not just here in the u.s. so we'd like to be more pro active, it's just a matter of bandwidth resources, as you can imagine. >> host: kuk yi with best buy capital. as executive vice president and general counsel for nbc universal, rick cotton oversees that company's legislative and regulatory agenda. mr. cotton, what's tops on your

list right now? >> guest: i would say that looking at the emergence of the new digital distribution world which is right in everybody's focus at the moment and thinking through the policy implications of that. and in particular we're committed as a major content company to utilizing the digital distribution capabilities, making content more and more available on the web through ip-enabled distribution, but also being sure that our content is not being stolen also on the web, and that is the big challenge. >> host: and is that part of why hulu came about? >> guest: well, these agendas really go hand in glove, and hulu is absolutely a leading example of how major content companies are looking to make content more easily accessible on a high quality and convenient

manner to internet users. it, as i'm sure you know, has become enormously accepted, it is certainly the most used in terms of professionally-produced entertainment video, so it has generated a huge following. >> host: but how does that prevent piracy or how does it further your business model? >> guest: well, it furthers the business model because consumers want to be able to access content when, as, and when they want to, and it's responding to those consumer demands. but if we're to enable these new content access points for consumers, we can't compete with free. we can't have our content being stolen on a wide spread and epidemic basis on the web. so what we have done is to become very active in working with business partners and with

the government in terms of trying to insure that we move to a world where technology sends the internet user cues that certain access points such as illegal file sharing, pirate sites are inappropriate, but at the same time hand in glove with that we are working very hard to provide them with easily accessible, legitimate sites like hulu. >> host: and when you talk with the fcc and with members of congress about that issue, do you feel that they have the tools necessary to keep up with the technology? >> guest: well, i think you have to take a step back. over the last 20 years both in terms of physical counterfeit products as well as digital piracy on the internet we have seen simply an epidemic. and the u.s. economy is driven by innovation, our ingenuity, our technical invention and our creativity.

if we are to realize the economic benefits from that which is what is our global competitive advantage, we have to protect our intellectual property which is what drives all of those aspects of our competitiveness. the congress has been very responsive, and both the prior administration and the incoming administration, i believe, recognize that it is very important for us as an economy, particularly given the current ditch we're in, to really pay attention to what preserves our global competitiveness. so i think we've seen action by the congress last fall in passing very significant intellectual property enformts legislation, and i think the challenge will be to implement that both in terms of looking at reducing counterfeiting on the physical products side as well as piracy on the internet. >> host: and is it, is the piracy global? is it mostly in the u.s., or is it global? >> guest: it's global. it's in the u.s., but it's also

enormously overseas. and that is part of our competitive dilemma which is we need to take strong action here so that our, we are a model, and we are an example of how to reduce both the counterfeiting and the illegal file sharing. but what we've seen in very recent months, we've seen france, and we've seen great britain take very strong public policy positions in terms of the need to reduce internet digital piracy. >> host: so when it comes to a trade agreement, piracy concerns are top for you. do other governments have the same tools worldwide that the u.s. may have? >> guest: well, i think what we're seeing is all of the governments globally who see their economies as heavily dependent on, as i've said, technical invention, on innovation, on creativity are working very hard to understand both what technology tools and what policy tools are available

to them. and that becomes part of trade agreement discussions, it becomes part of law enforcement exchanges, but i think we're seeing governments both in the u.s. and globally recognize that the scale of this problem has now gotten so great across two dozen sectors of our global economy that strong action is necessary. >> host: you gave a keynote here at the digital media conference, and one of the issues you talked about were the cable company's tv everywhere. what was your point about that? >> guest: well, what you're seeing in every aspect of the media environment are companies recognize that consumers want says to content through multiple ways. many of them on the internet. so they're not locked into old distribution systems. the announcement that is, or really the discussion that had been ongoing in terms of cable programming is how do cable

subscribers gain access to their cable programming in multiple different ways? and the most recent announcement is an indication that the cable networks and the cable distributers are starting to think that through and are clearly committed to developing ways that their subscribers can access content multiple ways including on the internet. >> host: and do you support that? >> guest: well, i think, i think it's difficult not to be in favor of consumers having additional choices. so that i would say conceptually now each company is going to make this decision is -- in terms of how it's implemented on its own and it is up to individual companies on how to participate, but the goal of taking subscription cable programming and making it more widely available to cable subscribers so that that access is enhanced is a, is clearly a

desirable thing. >> host: rick cotton is executive vice president and general counsel for nbc universal. dena kaplan, what's blip tv? >> guest: it's a platform for web shows. we host and monetize about 46,000 original web shows. and it's everyone from a guy doing a great woodworking show in his garage in minneapolis to michael eisner who with a team of folks out in l.a. with a company are producing 6-8 really high quality original, scripted sitcoms and dramas every year. >> host: can anybody contribute to blip? >> guest: so we are an open platform, but we do 100 percent focus on shows, so we're not the site of viral videos of any sort. our platform is really catered to people who are creating original essentially tv shows

for the web and building up an audience for themselves within their own brand name much more like a tv show than a viral video. >> host: so who would your competitors be? >> guest: so in terms of people who are platforms that are focusing on shows, i guess maybe you could put hulu in that category. the difference between us and hulu is that hulu is focused on professional content, obviously, that's being produced by nbc, by disney or by news corp., and we're focused on people who are creating original shows for the web. so we think about a pyramid of content with hulu at the top, youtube and maybe flicker at the bottom, we own the middle. the other way to think about us is a way to distribute content throughout the web, and there are a few other platforms that let you distribute content, but i guess we would say we do a better job. >> host: so would nbc be able to

put 10 minutes of a program on your platform, or would a private citizen be able to contribute a music video? >> guest: so if nbc wanted to put a produced show like the apprentice on blip, is that the question, would we accept it? such an interesting question. i would say this, as long as they have the rights to the show, so it's an official nbc person who officially has the rights to that content, then our platform would accept it. it might raise a couple of alarms at the company, we might call them to make sure they had the rights and that this really was nbc and not someone pretending to be nbc, but the platform would accept it. to your other question, if a person put a music video on, if the person had the rights to the video and audio, i should add, then our platform would accept it, but we really would be catered to people uploading a series of music videos. if there's a rock star that

wants to highlight a charity mission that they're doing or tell a story, i guess, like r. kelly has done in building up a consistent audience over time, then we would be the platform for it. but we're all about shows, we're not about people doing one-off videos. >> host: an amateur group that wants to put together a weekly series that builds on a plot or two, is that the type of programming you have? >> guest: yeah. that's exactly right. and it's that type of content that we have 46,000 people creating, and it's been amazing to see the quality of the content and the range of the content. i mean, we have shows about fashion and shows about beauty and shows about technology and gaming and surfing and sewing. everything that you could imagine. so some people say this is the long tail of content, it's also the torso to extend this horrible metaphor of content. we do have shows that will reach a few million people, so in that

sense it's not like every show reaches 15 people. you do have some shows that would be what you might call hits online, however you want to describe that, and that have built up a really steady and loyal audience just like a it's show would. >> host: how are you supported? >> guest: we match individual shows with advertisers and then split all that advertising revenue with the content creators 50/50. so our goal is, yes, to make money for ourselves, but also to make money as importantly for content creators. >> host: where did you come up with this, with the philosophy or the idea for this? >> guest: we saw that text blogging back in 2005, if you can imagine four years ago pre-youtube, pre-hulu world that text blogs were starting to take off. a few thought leaders were starting to do audio blogs, so we thought going from text to

audio to video could be a natural progression. that's why we decided to create this platform to serve people who are creating original content for the web. in terms of our vision which is very important along two dimensions, one, that we're very open and very friendly in terms of rights to content creators, that they retain 100 percent of the rights to their content. they control where the cop tent's distributed to -- content's distributed to, so they choose i want to syndicate to aol video, syndicate to sony video, all the different places we can let you syndicate content to we still let the content critter be in control of that decision. that philosophy came from my co-founders who had this idea of openness and kind of doing the right thing on the part of the content createer. distributing content everywhere rather than just making people

come to your destination site, and that's, again, just part of our ethos. >> host: and are you regulated by anybody? >> guest: ooh, we are in washington, d.c. now, aren't we? you do not need to remind me of that right now. it's certainly an interesting position to be in. if someone uploads -- we do have series of content from, say, war-torn regions of the world whether it's iraq, iran, i wouldn't say war-torn but other sort of troubled areas around the world, and if you have content that could be perceived as disturbing to some people, it is in the end up to us as entrepreneurs to make that decision about whether this is something we want on our platform or not. it's not up to the fcc. which i do believe is correct because we exist in an economy of plenty, not an economy of scarcity as the broadcast networks do. i believe we've made the right call on decisions about what

videos are appropriate or not appropriate for our platform, but there have been times where we've opened it up to our audience and said here's a video, due to something violent that took place in a war-torn region of the country, of the world that may or may not be appropriate, what do you think? and so we do make the call, but we also are open to comments and feedback from the audience as well. and you may not always make the right call, but we try, and we certainly try to be thoughtful about it. >> host: where do you see growth with blip.tv? >> guest: the growth is coming in two main areas. there is an explosion of content that's being created right now that's high quality content serialized, building up an audience, and the quality is getting better and better, and just the range of content is almost mind-boggling. you can pretty much name a

subject, and i would say we probably have one show and more likely we have 50. in terms of the quality, when we started blip.tv in 2005, our average video was someone taking out a camera and filming their commute to work which may have been interesting to their friends and family but was not super interesting unto itself. the fact that we now have a plethora of really highly-produced scripted dramas and sitcoms that have producers and directors and sets and hair people and makeup people and kraft food service folks is amazing this early in the medium. the second huge area of growth is in advertising. for three years we were just pitching the medium of web video, all web video. now we actually get to pitch blip, an independent content, which is a big step ahead. we're definitely getting access to tv dollars, and we're definitely shifting some media buying on the digital side from search and display over to

video, so it's not easy to do what we're doing in terms of ad sales, but it is 90 percent easier than it was a year ago. >> host: dina kaplan, blip.tv. and those were some to have interviews we did at the digital media conference held in june out in northern virginia. we will show you some more interviews in the coming weeks on "the communicators." thanks for being with us, the web site c-span.org/communicators for all of these interviews and all our past shows. ..