Business idea - weird but possible?

[simon43]

OK - I've been progressing with moving some of my mobile telecoms business to BKK, and am really grateful for all the advice re salaries etc etc.  But here is an opportunity that I've been asked to fulfill - and it might just work as a viable venture in Thailand!

You know the picture mobile phones that are becoming popular - not just in the UK and Europe, but also over in Japan and Australia?  These phones are being used to send pictures to other users, or to send them to internet sites or to TV programmes.  One big problem that the mobile networks, websites and TV stations have is that they do not want to fall foul of any indecency or legal issues. eg - if some clever guy sends a picture of his bum to a public website or TV station.  Even worse is the risk of child porn being sent between mobile users...(Imagine the PR fall-out...)

As a result of my existing SMS business in Europe, I have been asked if I could provide a 'moderation' service, IE - where a 'real' person checks whether a mobile picture is ok or not, and either sends it on its way to the mother mobile user, website or TV station - or blocks it if it falls below decency standards.

Now, to do this is quite costly, since real people have to check each picture.  It is not commercially viable in Europe.

But what about Thailand?! We are talking about pictures, not text, so the persons doing the moderation do not need to understand English or other language.  They only need to be aware of the types of images which are ok, and those which are not.

I'm thinking of a business which would employ Thai workers who would simply have to view these images as they pop up on their computer screens.  It certainly does not require graduates to do this work - and so the salary can be low enough to make the whole venture commercially viable.

As the use of these picture phones grows, the number of images being moderated would be huge.

The commercial model stems from the fact that each mobile picture is typically charged by the networks at anything between about 30-300 baht (especially for 'adult content etc)

The company who approached me said they would pay 6 baht for moderation of each picture....

Hey - i could even employ the bar-girls for this work, although they might consider hard-core adult pictures to be 'normal'

Quick calculation. Say i pay a worker 10,000 baht each month for a 40 hour week.  That's about 60 baht per hour. A visual check on each picture would take 30 seconds max (maybe much less...). So thats 120 pictures per hour (assuming there are enough pictures requiring moderation). At 6 baht per picture this makes a revenue of 720 baht per hour....Take away the employee salary (maybe doublt it to cover taxes etc) and this venture should make about 500 baht profit per hour per employee.....

Anyone got views on this business idea?

Simon

[singa-traz]

A few questions to consider:

1: Does the "moderation" need to be done real-time (within 5-15 minutes) or longer time is allowed ? To be taken in account for peak load ...

2: Moderation may required the moderator to understand the context of the picture and where it will be published ... a fake picture of Bush and Saddam shaking hand, may not be appropriate for publication on a TV Station ... I remember reading about an advertisement using Adolf Hilter in Bangkok to promote some Fast Food ...

3: You may need to perform two checks per picture, as well as put a process in place for the rejected pictures ... where do they go ... on the unmoderated site ?

4: On the commercial side, you would need to sell block of pictur e to be reviewed, (don't forget peak load), to better match your cost (increment of 10,000 THB per month), to your income (6 THB per picture).

5: You could hire freelancer ... for the peak load.

6: As a quality control, you could input some pictures that need to be rejected ... for checking ... at bit like at the X-Ray machine a the airport ...

... but I find the model interesting ...

[simon43]

It certainly isn't the normal sort of job...

Generally, the moderation has to be real-time, but mobile traffic can be modelled to predict peaks in traffic, based on a wealth of user data.  Yes, the moderator would have to know what rules to apply for each picture.  I would envisage that pictures would be automatically submitted online by the mobile network or service provider, together with a rating or classification so that the moderator would know what rules to apply.

But interesting...I will be speaking to the customer next week to try to gauge the potential traffic levels.  But with the growth in mobile photo phones wolrdwide and concerns over porn and child porn etc, this just might be a business opportunity...

[pschef]

Hey Simon

Have you considered using a semi retired guy like me, I could be your moderator. Only problem I live in Chiang Rai, Could it be a home based thing ???  I still have 10 years till I get my proper pension, that money could top me up quite nicely ::

Just a thought, the thing about porn recognition would be far greater :cool:

[simon43]

well, i thought about doing home-based moderation and text-chat when i set up an office in Spain to do the text-chat stuff.  There are some issues over this.  You really need ADSL (has that reached Chiang Rai yet??!).  Also, the point about having all staff in one office is that it adds some value to my business (oh Link77 has a nice office in downtown BKK...)  But I can think on this.

[Brian]

where a 'real' person checks whether a mobile picture is ok or not

I believe that there is software available that will perform a lot of filtering of this kind.

I can't remember the details, but I think that there are add-ons to some email software that scan attachments for too many skin tones and can then divert the picture to a 'real' person or block the picture altogether.

If this software could be adapted to your process it would save in time and wages.

Sorry Pschef, not trying to do you out of a job...

[simon43]

Yes - i know about this software, but it is not very reliable!!  The mobile networks and TV stations insist that ALL pictures are moderated by a real person, since they cannot afford to run the risk of some clever clogs painting his tonk blue and fooling the software  

[pschef]

Hey Simon

As before, real face to face is much better. If you are interested then so am I. keep in touch pschef :cool:

[pschef]

Hey Brian

I was working offshore, gulf of Thailand. We had a simalar program, you couldnt swear in English. The funny thing is you could send any kind of attachment, porn or whatever. I had many emails from mates just bounch back, reason, Some form of swear words in the text. ???  You really need some kind of moderater, be it farrang or Thai. Anywya Yoou fuc--king Aussie Fat Bass(ard see my7 point and that never mentioned how much you love Shag__in  Kangaroos

Still waiting for your next post mate. ::

Bye the way only joking about walking naked

[Brian]

Hey Bye the way only joking about walking naked

Did I miss something? I don't know what you mean...  

[pschef]

Sorry Brian

Im crossing wires

I was refering to the private message, Ive got the guys on that photo bye the way :cool: