MOD Machine Publisher FAQ
Here are a few frequently-asked questions. If your question is not among them, send us a note and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. We may even add your question to this FAQ page so you, too, can be famous. 
Remember that these answers attempt to address the most common situations. A better answer would be “that depends”, but that wouldn’t make for much of an FAQ page. Just keep in mind that we have the flexibility needed to arrive at just the right solution for you.
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How much money will we save delivering our products through MOD Machine compared to shipping DVDs?
This will vary. If you outsource fulfillment, you are probably paying at least $5 – $10 per disc shipped.
There are many costs of dealing with physical inventory, some obvious, like replication, shipping, warehouse facilities, equipment, packaging and other supplies, shipping personnel, and customer service.
The less obvious, secondary cost burden is all the time spent with all the aspects of management of inventory, hiring and managing shipping personnel, extra bookkeeping and requisitions, dealing with problems in replication and shipping, and the constant distraction from the core mission of the organization.
In a typical case we would ballpark total cost savings at the bottom line of at least 10% – 20%.
If you will be shipping DVDs along with delivering via MOD Machine, whatever portion of your sales going through MOD Machine will be more profitable, increasing the overall profitability of your organization.
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How much will our sales increase if I offer my products through MOD Machine?
Our test client found sales increases of 30% when switching from DVDs. Of course, your results will vary.
Here are a few relevant questions:
1. How much will your sales increase when your customers find they can enjoy your product right away without waiting for shipping? Have it ready to watch at the click of a mouse instead of locating a physical disc?
2. How much will your repeat sales increase when your customer sees your catalog every time they view your other products and they know they can be enjoying another product within minutes?
3. How much will your international sales increase when your products cost half as much and are delivered in minutes rather than weeks?
4. Most importantly, what if all the time your organization spends dealing with the hassles, distractions and problems of physical media were eliminated and that time could instead be devoted to promotion and adding to your catalog? What would that increase in focus on your core competencies mean to your bottom line? -
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What do you need from us to create our catalog?
The list is here.
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What do you need from us for each product?
A complete list of product assets is here.
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Can I author my own MOD Machine products?
In 2009, we will be implementing a training program for anyone who wishes to author interactive products for MOD Machine. Authoring a DVD-like program for MOD Machine is about as involved as authoring a DVD. MOD Machine authoring can be as simple or as complex as one can imagine.
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How long will it take to get my titles in the Catalog?
This depends on factors like our current backlog, and the complexity of your product. In some cases we can have it available the same day, while authoring a highly sophisticated learning experience could take several weeks. After a brief consultation we’ll be able to give you a reasonable estimate.
For a “virtual DVD”-type product, in most cases we will easy beat the average 10 business day turnaround of DVD replication.
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Will I still be able to build a mailing list with my customers?
Yes, your Publisher’s Toolbox will allow you to export customer contact information for any purchase made through your MOD Machine in almost any format of your choice.
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What are the limitations on what I can sell through the MOD Machine or present in the MOD Machine Player?
If you can imagine it, we can deliver it. See this page for more info.
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What about copyright, ownership of content, exclusivity, etc.?
Your products remain 100% yours, just like if you produced a DVD. You are free to publish your content anywhere else in any format you choose, and you can decide to discontinue publishing through MOD Machine at any time without notice, for any reason. We are simply your agent, and have no rights to your content. (Except the ability to brag that we have you as a customer for promotional purposes :-) )
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How secure is MOD Machine for e-commerce?
We can’t imagine a more secure way to purchase anything. When a customer places an order through MOD Machine, it is far more secure than typing their credit card number into a common browser like Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari for which many underground hacks are available, or giving out their credit card number on a cell phone or land line where it is easily intercepted.
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Is my content protected against piracy?
We apply our LBDRM proprietary video encryption to your movies before we upload them to the servers. If someone ever was able to gain access to your content, the files would be useless and unplayable, because they are stored in a scrambled, encrypted format. Once downloaded to the user’s hard drive, the files are still encrypted and only readable via the MOD Machine Player. We are not aware of a better DRM scheme than ours. Where Windows Media DRM is easily crackable, and doesn’t run on Macs, our LBDRM works great on Vista, Windows XP and Mac, and is virtually uncrackable.
500 million DVDs are being shared every month over P2P (peer to peer) networks. If you have a popular DVD, how many sales are you losing every day?
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What if I want customers to be able to transfer movies onto their iPods, iPhones, PSPs, Apple TVs, or other devices?
No problem, we will encode your content for any device you choose, and skip the DRM so your customer can view the content on any compatible device.
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How can I be sure I am getting all the sales revenue?
You will receive the Leaping Brain Publisher’s Toolbox software with the Real Time Account Viewer that will report purchases as they happen, in real time, 24/7. We encourage our customers to test the integrity of our bookkeeping at any time, by having a friend or colleague purchase a product, perhaps in the middle of the night, then immediately check your Toolbox to make sure that purchase shows up.
You will find that our system is 100% reliable. All funds collected in a month will be paid by the 15th of the following month, less applicable fees.
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Can I host my content on my own servers?
Sure. If your servers have adequate space, bandwidth and reliability it’s not a bad idea to host your own content. Hosting your own content gives you the additional metric from your server logs of how many times each media file has been downloaded.
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How many times can a customer download a product?
It’s up to you. Usually, publishers allow two computers to be “authorized” for each title, but you could choose any number. If a user deletes their content, or reformats their hard drive, or buys a new computer, they will be able to re-download your product anytime.
