Existing paywall models have their frustrations. Perhaps it’s because they cut readers off mid-content to ask for payment. Or maybe it’s the fact that every separate site has its own charges and login requirements, adding time and cost at every turn.

Even by accessing just a handful of sites with paywalled content, it requires the user to hand over personal data, including credit card information. It also means leaving a cookie with your login information — unless you want to stop and log in every time you return to that content creator.

This creates friction for the user.

Interruptions to how they’d usually consume their content. If this irritates them enough, they may seek out alternative sources of content, rather than having to open their wallet again or set up yet another account.

MEDIA Protocol Does It Differently

Our system is easy to integrate for publishers that have this type of paywall.

Employing MEDIA Protocol allows publishers the choice to reward customers, who interact with their content, with MEDIA Tokens. Customers are encouraged to consume and share as normal, even without token incentives, as not all content will be tokenized. But when they do accrue tokens, they can use them to gain access to paywalled content, including some they might have previously ignored for being inaccessible to them.

This exchange and interchange of tokens, based on blockchain technology, effectively takes the friction out of the process, doing away with the need for credit card or login details.

MEDIA Tokens And Security

The blockchain element of the process is fundamental to the security of token transactions between consumers and publishers.

The user never gives over possession of their data to the publisher. They are transacting over the blockchain with all the benefits of distributed ledger and the hash cryptography, meaning that no one but the customer is ever privy to their private key.

This, along with many of the other security features of blockchain technology, is explored in greater detail in our Blockchain Education Programme (particularly Part 4 — How Blockchain Ensures That No-One Can Impersonate The Owner Of An Address).

How Do MEDIA Tokens Get Me Through The Paywall?

Assuming the user has collected some token rewards in their wallet, the process works like this:

The publisher sets a meta tag entitled ‘MEDIA TOKEN COST’ containing the token value required to access beyond the paywall set within the piece of content. Using the smart contract between the two parties, the user specifies the token amount they’re willing to spend to access the content — this should match the amount set by the meta tag. The smart contract transfers the agreed amount from consumer to publisher. The ‘login’ is sent as a request containing the transaction ID and the last block hash, signed with the user’s private key. The publisher provides access, having been able to check against the blockchain that the token was used and the transaction was paid.

It might sound technical when spelled out like this, but with the wallet apps and the content creators building the token costs into their content, the process is fairly seamless. It can also work exactly this way with multiple publishers using MEDIA Protocol, meaning there’s no need to create a new account each time.

Subscriptions Supported

Content owners can also offer subscription access to their paywalled content via MEDIA Protocol. The publisher can offer different durations — daily, weekly, monthly, or annually.

Subscription prices don’t have to be fixed. They can be customer-specific. For example, a publisher may decide to reward a consumer who has previously interacted with a URL with a discounted subscription price. This makes for an even more appealing reward to customers.

The Frictionless Solution

With MEDIA Protocol, customers can be exposed to content they may previously not have been inclined to spend money to access. Critically, they can do so while retaining control of their personal data, in a simple process using their blockchain wallet to spend tokens they’ve been rewarded with. This in turn can lead to further rewards. And so the cycle repeats itself, with parties on both sides of the paywall reaping the benefits.

Secure. Convenient. Easy.

For more information regarding MEDIA Protocol find us on our social channels below:

Website: www.mediaprotocol.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MEDIAProtocol

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MEDIA_Protocol

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/media-protocol/

Telegram: https://t.me/Media_Protocol_Community and https://t.me/MP_Announcements

Medium: https://medium.com/@mediaprotocolsm

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MEDIAProtocol