No matter what kind of attitude towards filesharing and piracy you currently hold, most of us started out either because it was fun and (or) because of the simple fact that watching films, listening to music and playing games could suddenly be free of charge. Without speaking on behalf of the rest of the ZeroSec crew, I’ve personally come to think of filesharing as the only way to force a change in the norm which the movie studios and record industry has created for us. Napster utterly changed the way the mainstream consumed music and paved the way for services such as iTunes and more recently Spotify (in European countries). But when it comes to movies and television we are still more or less expected to consume as we’ve done for decades. VODO is a project that will help change this, which is why we’ve chosen to fully support them.

To fully understand what VODO is about, please read the description below, but in a nutshell VODO uses the power of p2p distribution to give independent film directors an opportunity at exposure. Once every month a new film will be released and spread by the VODO distribution group, of which ZeroSec is now a part:

WHAT IS VODO?

‘VODO could be a valuable tool for indie filmmakers who recognize that obscurity is a much bigger threat to their efforts than piracy.‘ – Mike Masnick, Techdirt.

Founded by Jamie King, one of the figures behind the well-known filesharing documentary STEAL THIS FILM (www.stealthisfilm.com), VODO brings filmmakers together with the distribution power of the filesharing community. It aims to offer fresh, quality films on a free-to-share basis, promoted and distributed through a ‘coalition’ of filesharing partners that includes big names like The Pirate Bay, Mininova, Miro, TorrentFreak, ZeroSec, VeeHD, Isohunt, Plube, OneDDL, Vuze and Frostwire, amongst many others.

‘Together, the filesharing community has a distribution capacity that rivals and even exceeds that of the mainstream media,’ says King. ‘VODO leverages that power for the benefit of filmmakers and other creators. By sharing films freely through the most popular and fastest growing filesharing sites, we’re building audiences in the hundreds of thousands for our artists. That has material value for these filmmakers, through raised profile, donations and marketing. It’s a win-win situation and it’s the future of distributing media after copyright.’

VODO lets creators manage their own donation links, choosing their own payment provider; all donations go directly to the filmmaker. Regular supporters of the VODO project receive access to all the films being considered for release and can contribute to the selection process.

VODO aims to release at least one film per month during the rest of 2009 and 2010. King says that fiction titles, animation shorts and even stand-up comedy will also be on the distribution list. ‘During 2010 VODO will build out a series of revenue opportunities for its creators, with the free-to-share model at their core,’ he explains.