
Facebook has cut off Prisma’s Live Video access - denzil_correa
https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/30/facebook-has-cut-off-prismas-live-video-access/
======
pyrale
> Of course it’s Facebook’s API and they can do what they like about who can
> access it

I'm a bit annoyed by this reaction... Basically the likes of Google and
Facebook have been abusing it to translate their monopoly in mature markets
into competitive advantage in emerging markets.

Maybe it's time that, just like FB and Google are campaigning for the
comoditization of broadband, we campaign for the classification of parts of
their platforms/APIs as public utility.

~~~
pc86
At which point, unless you are unsarcastically calling for the nationalization
of Facebook, they simply turn the features off.

~~~
djsumdog
I hate walled gardens and I'm all for trying to move you and, at least tech
friends, to platforms people control.

But the trouble is Facebook, Amazon, Google .. these companies are not only
huge, they control distribution networks. Let's look at when Amazon removes a
book from their store. Sure any retailer can choose not to supply a book, but
when Amazon does it, their distribution network as become so large and central
for most people that it does effectively censor the book. There are millions
of people who only buy books through their service.

I'm not saying they should be public entities, but you need to be aware of the
fact that they do effectively control the flow of information just due to
their sheer market share.

~~~
AznHisoka
"these companies are not only huge, they control distribution networks"

They're huge precisely because they control distribution networks.

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wwalser
Given the popularity of various photo/video manipulation applications on
mobile, I'm surprised by Facebook's decision here. If Prisma had gotten a bump
in traction with this, every other video/photo app would be immediately
clamoring to add FB Live Streaming to their product. In a year, sending live
video to FB would be as common a feature as sending photos to Instagram.

Who gives a shit about cannibalizing live video filters, a feature that had no
need for existing other than to create parity with Snapchat's filters, when
you could give your pet platform, live video which drives massive ad-revenue,
the appearance of ubiquity?

~~~
pedalpete
This is a very good point, and shows some small thinking on facebook's part.
Let's also not forget that regularly, when Facebook/Google/etc launch a
feature which is competing with an existing start-up, the start-up often wins
(somebody please give me examples here, I'm struggling to come up with any,
but I'm quite sure they exist).

Should facebook care if a 3rd party is implementing a feature on their
platform vs them supplying it themselves? Facebook's business model is to get
data and sell ads. I don't see how this Prisma's live video would affect
either of those things negatively.

~~~
rak00n
Snapchat. Facebook launched a number of equivalent features. None of them got
traction.

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orbitur
In other words, FB probably has something similar in the pipeline and the
people who wrote the ToS weren't aware of it.

~~~
nacs
Yep, this is mentioned in the article:

[https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/25/facebook-video-
filters/](https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/25/facebook-video-filters/)

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daenney
I'm having a hard time understanding why you'd build up a product as a add-on
to or heavily reliant on a closed(ish) platform. You're putting yourself at
the mercy of a large corporation, that usually doesn't end well.

~~~
wwalser
I agree completely but that's not what happened in this case. Sending live
video to Facebook is just one feature that was recently added to the already
popular photo manipulation app, Prisma[1].

1\. [http://prisma-ai.com/](http://prisma-ai.com/)

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alistproducer2
I was working on a live streaming app and considered using FB but their API
docs weren't accurate and when I did manage to get in touch with support their
reaction was kind of "oh well." At that point I realized it would be a bad
idea to put so much effort into something that could be shuttered by a 3rd
party.

For the record, FB live docs are pretty clear about not allowing streaming
from mobile devices.

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niftich
Re-stating the facts of the case for the comments:

\- This is a post-processing app. If you're familiar with Instagram, the
mechanics are the same: you either use the basic built-in camera, or select an
existing photo. Then, you choose a filter, tune the filter, and after some
processing, your result is ready.

\- The finished image can be saved on the device, or exported directly to
Instagram or Facebook.

\- Recently, their camera gained a new button, to livestream to Facebook
instead. The filters can be changed at any time during the broadcast.

\- Facebook has revoked their API access to this livestream feature.

\- Facebook is indeed working on style transfer for live video [1].

So this wasn't the case of a third-party app _depending_ on a big platform's
APIs and playing within their own walled garden. Rather, it's a related, but
different case of betting on the tech instead of the community [2],
effectively being a free tech demo and hoping to attract investor interest.

While this may still work, the concept was quickly copied, -- in some cases,
deliberately, like in the case of VK's Vinci [3]. In addition, the Prisma
founder's previous employer, Mail.ru, released the similar app Artisto soon
after, which worked on videos before Prisma did.

[1]
[https://code.facebook.com/posts/196146247499076](https://code.facebook.com/posts/196146247499076)
[2] [http://www.businessinsider.com/prisma-labs-app-profile-
inter...](http://www.businessinsider.com/prisma-labs-app-profile-interview-
with-ceo-alexey-moiseenkov-2016-8) [3]
[https://www.technohacker.com/vkontakte-launched-its-
prisma-c...](https://www.technohacker.com/vkontakte-launched-its-prisma-clone-
vinci/)

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Animats
This is why, if you do something like this, do it multi-platform. Offer it on
Facebook, via your own site, and maybe on some phone platform. That way, you
can't be shut down by one vendor, and a vendor may think twice about shutting
you down and losing your customers to another platform.

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pm24601
Once again, building on FB api == bad idea.

Sadly, FB has eaten so much of the world - there may not be much of an
alternative.

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eva1984
Are people serious about style transferring while live-streaming? I mean it is
cool and fun, but isn't it also a distraction once people get used to it?

~~~
otoburb
It's a gimmick that is currently hot, increases usage of the platform, and
with most creative platforms could yield a video going viral.

The same argument could be made with photo filters (e.g. Apple building them
directly into iOS) but extended to live streaming video.

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ogsharkman
I didn't even know about "style transfer", is this a big thing in other
coountries (as Prisma seems to be Russian)?

~~~
denzil_correa
Yeah it is. It was a Top 10 app in 77 countries on the App store around its
release.

[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-27/eastern-e...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-27/eastern-
europe-spawns-another-viral-hit-with-prisma-photo-app)

~~~
ogsharkman
Interesting, thanks for the link!

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thesimpsons1022
i'm doing my masters in computer vision and augmented reality and am really
surprised how these apps keep getting really big which are essentially just
implementations of research papers that are out there and public. In a way it
makes me feel good because i know "i could do that". But obviously the hardest
part is having the idea in the first place.

