This is the key distinction. If you charge money, from the beginning, most of your content moderation woes go away.
At Transistor.fm we host podcasts and charge money for it (starting at $19/month). We've had very little problems with questionable content.
We're a counterpoint to the narrative here: small (4 full-time people), profitable, and calm.
> Even if you just hosted audio
Most DMCA takedown requests these days are handled through the big podcast directories (Spotify, Apple Podcasts). We haven't had to write/implement any fingerprinting tech.
Charging also gives a (potential) communications path with the customer, through the payments processor. This can be useful for resolving account issues, which are otherwise a nightmare when there's no identification whatsoever.
But any payment also means that you're now fighting against "free" for growth. Free may come either from some massive monopoly who can offer their alternative as a loss-leader, or as a subsidised offering on the back of another monetisation scheme (usually advertising), where revenue potential increases with platform scale. Yes, you'll have fewer issues, but you'll also always be on the short end of the growth stick.
This is a rephrasing of another reply to your comment, hopefully with a different and clarifying emphasis.
> We're a counterpoint to the narrative here: small (4 full-time people), profitable, and calm.
I hope your model wins in the end but let’s face it - the internet makes available a global market for nearly no marginal cost per user. Networks effects and all that on top of that premise.
You can carve out a niche but the serious money will be spent on scale.
This is the key distinction. If you charge money, from the beginning, most of your content moderation woes go away.
At Transistor.fm we host podcasts and charge money for it (starting at $19/month). We've had very little problems with questionable content.
We're a counterpoint to the narrative here: small (4 full-time people), profitable, and calm.
> Even if you just hosted audio
Most DMCA takedown requests these days are handled through the big podcast directories (Spotify, Apple Podcasts). We haven't had to write/implement any fingerprinting tech.